


The mechanics duality

by NAStories



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-01-02 04:23:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21155558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NAStories/pseuds/NAStories
Summary: A collection of one-shots of events or topics shared between Tails the fox and Wave the Swallow. Each shot is composed of two chapters, told in the perspective of the each of the characters. Some one-shots may connect with previous ones. Slow to update.





	1. Ballroom 1 Tails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Heroes and co go to a fancy party, unaware that the Babylon Rogues plan to storm it.

"This is the worst." Sonic whispered to me, during one of the rare occasion when he wore a frown. What was even more unusual was the fact that he was wearing a tuxedo. 

"It is not that bad." I whispered back. 

"Just look at Knuckles!" He whispered back, pointing at the red echidna at his side. Knuckles was, literally, biting the neck of his shirt and his necktie, tired of how uncomfortable and itchy it felt. He was also wearing a tux by the way. 

I sighed in exasperation. I am the youngest of the three, but right now both act like children. By the way, I am Miles 'Tails' Prower and, yes, I am also wearing a tuxedo. 

Long story short, Amy and Rouge managed to convince them to put on tuxedos and participate in a ball dance, of all things. A masked ball dance. I will never understand those girls: Sonic and Knux are both cool and heroic but, a dance? At a ballroom? Wearing tuxedos? Are they nuts? Knuckles is someone who lived alone for fifteen years, give or take. Sonic is a great hero but he isn't one for etiquette, at all. I am probably the one who isn't as lost with this, but even I would rather be at home, working on my machines. Heck, I don't even have a 'maybe-girlfriend' like them. 

I am here mostly to make sure these two don't rip their clothing in anger, or something similar. So far I am doing a good job, despite Knuckles eating his. Don't worry, Rouge brought extras. We both knew he needs them. That's not my only reason for being here. Finally, the limo arrives. 

"Be nice guys, just this night." I suggest, hoping they do behave. 

The door is open for us and, well, the three ladies here look stunning. Rouge wore a black long dress, with a single sleeve and a heart shaped hole exposing some of her cleavage, hugging her curves tightly. The lower part of it cut from her hip to her feet, giving her more freedom of movement and exposing her leg. It takes me more willpower than I am comfortable to admit to not stare. Hey, I am sixteen and my hormones are doing crazy stuff. That's my excuse and I am sticking with it. I am thankful/jealous that she doesn't hug me against her bosom like she used to. 

Amy is wearing what I can easily describe as a princess dress: it was white with different tones of blue and some sprinkles of gold here and there. The skirt was large, like enough to hide someone under it. She also put golden flowers on her long hair. 

Finally, there is Cream, wearing a marine green dress, the only thing holding it are two thin strings, exposing some of the rabbit's shoulders. It was neither too tight nor too spacious, reaching her around her knees. Her calves were nice and shapely and she wore high heels, actually presenting herself as the tallest thanks to that. I notice her face, her modest make-up, the bun of hair on her forehead and her long ears and I can't help but think she is turning into a beauty. For better or worse. 

The first thing that I notice after checking them out is Rouge's face of disappointment. "Really?" She said to Knuckles 

"Yes, really." Knuckles answered. "Did you expected something else?" 

"For one night? Yeah. But even that's too much for you!" She answered, with her arms crossed. 

"Bite me!" 

"I would prefer to kick your..." I decided to intervene at that moment. 

"Guys, remember the deal." I put myself between them, a dangerous position but that's what I am here for. They turn around, giving each other backs. I say nothing, they just need a moment. Cream is handling the other two. 

"Sonic!" Amy, as expected, ran to Sonic like a rabid fan girl. Sonic simply lifted an arm, his hand getting on her face and stopping her dead on her tracks, even if her legs kept struggling. I must admit, I am happy he learnt he could do that instead of, you know, run away from her at the speed of sound! 

"Remember the deeeeeal." Cream sang, making Sonic grimace. Amy stopped and Sonic sighed, lowering his arm. 

"Yess!" Amy shouted, throwing her arms in victory. She was about to jump at Sonic but Cream reminded her about the deal too. Amy cleared her throat, adopting a more lady like stance afterwards: she lowered her head just a bit, and folded both hands, in front of her skirt. After that, she lifted a hand and her head, her eyes half open in a strangely alluring way, I don't know how to explain it. Regal? Graceful? "Would you accompany me, my knight?" She had a royal aura for a sec. 

D-did Sonic just blush?! I swear there was some red on his cheeks. Not that much and barely noticeable, and disappeared pretty fast, but it didn't escape me. He answered by taking her hand very delicately, not like him. "My pleasure, my lady." OK, I know that Sonic is all quippy and can answer cattily to almost every situation, but he isn't supposed to be this suave. Amy obviously, is completely red and unable to hide it or say anything at the moment for that matter. Great, he broke her already. 

"OK. You... look... nice." I hear Knuckles say, earning my attention. His face exposed pain, but I am happy to see that he is compromising. 

"...Thank you." She smiled, thought it looked like it was bringing her agony. "Do you mind... if we change your clothes?" 

"Not...at...all." He didn't even move his mouth, speaking through gritted teeth.

Okeeeyy. I am a little worry, but I don't think this can get any better for now. If you wonder what the heck the deal is, we all know how their relationships work: poorly. Knuckles and Rouge butt heads over and over while Amy has chased Sonic for more than it should be correct, but Sonic is unable to just tell her he doesn't want anything with her because, I think, that isn't the case. The idea here is that Sonic actually gives a chance to Amy while the latter makes an effort to not act as... eccentric as usually. For Knuckles and Rouge, they need to tone down their tension, to be more tolerable to one another. 

If you think this is torture: first, it kind of is; and second, is necessary. Cream and I can only take so much more of this nonsense. Call us jerks, I say, deal with them for seven years and you will understand where we are coming from. Yeah, I am kind-of-an-angsty-whiny teen, come bite me. So, we waste no time to get to the party and, most of us are excited. 

"This is going to be the best night ever!" Amy chirped. "And I am going to spend it with my one and only..." Amy started, but managed to stop herself, realizing she was making the thing awkward for the other hedgehog. Good that she is gaining some auto-control. 

"Oh boy." Sonic and Knux say at the unison. I shot them a disappointed stare: the girls were pulling their weight but they were not. Luckily, Rouge was on the scene or more exactly, she was fixing Knux tie, having taken away the sticky clothing. 

"My, I guess if you are so unenergized, you won't be able to dent the all-you-can-eat-buffet." Rouge mentioned with fake disappointment. The echidna immediately shot back up. 

"Nevermind, this is gonna be a great night." He exclaimed, brimming happiness. 

"You know can go to an all-you-can-eat-buffet anytime you want, right?" Sonic half asked. 

"That means I am going to go to one of those twice!" Knux answered. 

"You traitor." Sonic said under his breath and I couldn't help a chuckle. 

"For the best night of our lives!" Amy shouted, lifting and arm. 

"For the all the delicious food!" Knuckles imitated her. 

"For the many cute guys I am going to kiss!" Cream followed. This earned her a bunch of stares from everyone her. 

The hedgehogs were worried, the echidna looked confused, Rouge looked amused and I face-palmed and sighed. That's the final reason I am here. Do you know what they say about rabbits and reproduction? Well, my friends are a bit worried since Cream likes to flirt. A lot. They think this will get her into trouble before we know it. Well, I think Rouge is proud of her. Anyway, I am supposed to take care of her, but I am going to ditch her the moment we enter and just make sure the rest keep their end of the bargain. I trust Cream, more than any of them i this case. And I know that she is just playing them around, just like Rouge does to many people. 

Like when people think that Knuckles is stupid instead of just awkward; or people that say that Rouge is just a slut because of her clothing preference; or saying that Amy is just a crazy fan girl; or when they say I am a pussy and a little bitch. They are generalizing, only seeing things on a surface level. However, I don't care if strangers do that, but if my friends do that then, it is a little more troublesome. 

No, we are not a couple, or try to be a very dysfunctional one. Even if I do find her attractive, it is different from the few crushes I have had before. From what I can explain, a healthy couple should be composed of similar people but also need to be very different, if that makes sense. I would say that Cream and I are too alike for it to work. 

So, after an event-less ride, we arrive at the the place where the party was held. We put our masks and I also put a band on my twin tails. The purpose of the band is to make them look as one, or else, my identity would be too easily identified. How many two tailed foxes do you think there are? Its a simple method but an effective one. The masks don't cover our muzzles. Knuckles wasted no time eating all kind of stuff from the table. Sonic is trying to follow him, but Amy's superior strength let her drag him away. 

"Help!" I hear Sonic yelp.

"Good for you." I say, while lifting my thumb. 

"...Are you still upset about the plane?" 

"Not anymore." I answer. With that, they disappear from my range of vision. You gotta enjoy moments like this in your life. I notice Knuckles and Rouge growling at each other. 

"Guys." I say, getting their attention. Now their growls were directed to me. "Deal." I keep my deadpan. Rouge and Knux get away from me. I think they want to growl at each other in private. They won't get it. I let Cream away from my sight, not sure where she is, but I know she is capable of taking care of herself. Instead, I go up, using the massive staircase in the middle of the ballroom, leading to a second floor for dancing, from where I can easily see if things are going alright. 

And things seem to be going alright. I mean, Knuckles and Rouge are dancing by the slow tune, instead of grabbing each others necks. Amy had locked her arm with her date, who finally joined in her dance, finally resigning on his chances of escaping. 

I then scan at the rest of the floor. A bunch of boring snobs dancing and trying to look sophisticated. Why do the girls love these fake, boring parties? Another thing I will never understand. I then notice a man falling on a girl. The guards go there, trying to stop a scandal. I notice the man, who appears to be drunk, is enjoying touching the woman and some of his movements seem deliberate if you ask me. I roll my eyes with disgust. 

These are supposed to be the most refined people there is, but they are dirtier than most people I know and have the money to get away with it as much as they want. As I see it from here, the couple is apologizing to the guy who fell on her. See what i mean? Must be some very rich asshole who thinks he is bigger than life. 

However, someone calls my attention, or rather something in that person. A tight, female, purple tummy. No, my hormones are not running that wildly. 

Her dress is shaped in a way that it is hugging her slim body, ending about the middle of her thighs. Upwards, it covered her cleavage up to her neck, but her back was exposed was the dress opened into a round V . She was slim and not that curvy but I could see it was a well maintained body, possibly a fitness girl. The dress had a hole shaped like a ruby, showing off the mentioned part of her body. I then look up at her head, she had her mask on, but her two feather tails or whatever were tied into one big braid, with roses on each of the locks. She was hiding her face, as everybody else, but I couldn't help but think that she was Wave the Swallow. And if she was here, it probably meant that the rogues were around. 

"Like what you see?" This made me burst from my bubble. I let a small *gah* shout. Cream just appeared at my side, with an amused smirk. 

"Cream, where did you came out?" I half-screamed. She just took me by surprise. 

"That's not important. Do you like what you see?" She repeated, and I am sure my face is hot right now. 

"N-no, I think she is Wave the Swallow." I reply, unable to hold down my blush. 

"What does that change?" She asked. I can feel her stare piercing through me, so I avoid it. "I think she looks nice." She continued. 

"L-look. She is a rival, not to mention she is probably the most frustrating woman I know." I answer back, with what is the truth. 

"Well, you know what they say about hate and love." She answers. 

Wait a minute... "Are you really trying to make me go after Wave? Wave the swallow? Seriously?!" Now I am really sure this girl is nuts. 

"C'mon, you need to have fun. Meet a nice girl." Oh boi, she is. 

Look I love Cream and all, and I like that she never became the love predator that Amy is with Sonic, but, instead, she developed something that might be worse: She wants to ship me with any girl she can, and I mean it when I say 'any girl'. And it is not like I am the only one she has tried this: Charmy, Espio, Mighty, even Shadow got tangled in her games at some point. Though Shadow got with Tikal thanks to her intervention. Still, it is one against four, so I don't let her do that to me. 

"Your meaning of 'a nice girl' is very different to mine." I reply with deadpan. "Look, if she is here, it means she is up to no good, not to mention her partners must also be around. So alert the others." I order her, while running away. I hear her say something, but I am unable to understand what. 

I quickly go to the lower parts of the building, aiming to find her. I look for her in the middle of the people, and I see her go to another room. We are not supposed to get to any other room that isn't these two. Not really thinking what I am doing, I follow her. The next room is, as expected, dark, except for the light of the moon crawling through the window, permitting me to see the potential thief. It is clear to me that Wave is looking for something, probably some loot. However, I am stopped because... well, she looks gorgeous. The way the moon's blue light bathes her gives her a mythical look, highlighting her modest but womanly body. She is giving me the back and then she bend her her torso forward, which let her butt up and I can feel a heat coming to my face. I could have a chance to stop her or get out of there, but I just keep there, frozen and observant. And she could turn around any moment! 

"Who's there?!" Great! Now who is coming? I was thinking about what should I do when, suddenly, I feel a body on me, more specifically, her breasts, which instantly brings a blush to my face. The next thing I feel is her beak, crashing against my mouth. It is so weird: Muzzles are soft but her beak is hard, it doesn't have any give. Our mouths are very different, clearly not mean to connect. But... I love it. 

I try to adjust my mouth to connect as much with hers as possible, because the more surface we connect, the more pleasure, the more I feel this honey that blinds me, turns me into a beast, makes me an addict, so I try harder to connect our mouths, turning it into a vicious cycle. But then, I feel something grabbing my tongue, something warm and soft, and all my senses are thrown to overdrive, losing myself on the overwhelming sweetness. This is when I finally lost all self restraint, as my hands become audacious, exploring every inch of this wonderful woman. Before I know it, my right hand lands on her soft but firm butt, and lift her, while I use my left to hold her back. She actually answers by wrapping her legs around my torso, and her hands on my back, to help me support her, which makes the experience even more delicious. I don't believe it was possible to close the gap between us, to be more of a one entity than we already were, but man, I was trying. At least, until our pesky lungs burned hard, begging for air. Seriously, I wouldn't mind living the rest of my life in a moment like that. 

I look into her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes, like a sky with its infinite horizon, or a sea where I wish I could swim forever or... I don't even know, I am not a poet! But Chaos, I wish I could express how amazing they look at this moment. 

"Ahem." This makes me stop in my tracks, freezing on place. Oh, right, there was someone behind us before I lost myself to my senses. Shame immediately takes over me. 

"Upsy." I hear her say, in a playful and shrill tone. I worry a bit in that moment since it sounded like the most remote from the tomboyish and harsh tone and a little less high voice that Wave has. Could I be wrong? Could this be someone else altogether? I mean, with the exception of Knuckles (because he has no species anymore), none of our colors are rare among our species. Why didn't I think this before?! "Guess they caught us." She continued. "Would you put me down, sweetie?" 

From my confusion, my hormones begging for more action and my shame, my brain is left only with the most basic responses, only putting her down slowly. I am so suggestible right now that she could tell me to rob a bank, and I don't think I would say otherwise. "Sorry, you know how couples can be. We sometimes can't stop and we didn't want to show off at the party." She is making a story for both of us, which I am thankful since I can barely say a word for now. 

"OUT!" That's all the guard barks, setting both of us to get out of there. So, back at the party surrounded by people, I notice her moving away, trying to mix herself with the crowd. It doesn't work. Somehow, I only see her, every other person is darkened, insignificant, she was the only light. Chaos, what I got myself into? 

So, almost running toward her, while harshly pushing several people, I manage to grab her hand and mutter a single word. "Wave." I muttered accidentally. We are not supposed to reveal the identity of other people around us, but I care little about that. 

She turned her head around, looking to my eyes. "Bless you." She answered, smiling politely. What? I didn't sneeze. "Would you mind unhanding me, sweetie?" She said. I obey, and she started to get away from me.

"Wave." I repeat, louder. She stopped again and repeated the bless you thing again, before speeding off again. But she can't escape me, and I quickly caught her again. 

"Wave I know..." I try to end but she turns around in a flash, grabs me by my tie and drags me to another room just three steps away. This time, a small utility closet. 

"Chaos dammit, are you stupid or what!? What is the point of a mask if you are going to tell my name to everybody?!" First, ouch, and second, she is harsh, she is loud, she is rude and she stopped faking her voice. I was right, it is Wave. 

"Sorry, not my intention." I say, while trying to move a bit and then, my eyes lock with hers again, freezing me in place. I would complain that this was annoying if I wasn't enjoying it so much. 

Then, light came as the door of the closet opened. "Will I have to follow you around all night?" The guard complained. 

"Sorry." She said and dragged me by the hand. I followed her without complain. Soon, a little away from the rest of the people, she finally engages in a conversation with me. "Who are you and what do you want?" She demanded, her arms crossed. 

Uh, ho, what do I tell her? "... I am your fan." I say, hoping that's enough. 

"HA, HA. I don't mean like that clown." Her sarcasm stings like usual, meaning I can take it. "I mean a real name since you know mine. It is only fair." She answered. 

What do I tell her? I don't think she recognizes me, which makes sense: we haven't seen each other in years and I just recently had a growth spurt and my voice changed. She probably doesn't imagine that 'Shorty', as she called me, is now a little taller than her, even if we exclude my ears. My tails are also tied and my face covered, so that helps. Should I tell her my real name? I... I don't want to. I am worry about how will she react at the fact that we kissed so passionately. But I can't remain quite for long. "... I am Miles." I say reluctantly. 

"As in, I am the only thing in miles that matters to you? Or you counted the miles you had to travel to find me? Or that your love reaches further than all the miles of the universe?" Ugh, three miles shots fired. The third thing that annoys me the most are miles jokes. Sonic is the best brother I could have asked for, but man, he drove me crazy as a kid with his miles jokes, so far that I know that's the reason I don't like my real name. 

"Geez, a wave of insults. I didn't expect them to be so hard to swallow!" I said, only realizing how stupid they sounded when I was done talking. Chaos, is this the best I can come up? 

"Hardy har." She replies unamused. "I am serious. What is your real name?" 

I am sure my face expresses confusion right now. "My real name is Miles. Miles Prower." I repeat. Now she is the one who looks confused. 

"It wasn't a pick up line? Or meant to turn into one?" She thought it was a pick up line? Huh, now that I think about it, her comments did sound like she was expecting pick up lines, some that she might have heard more times than she ever wanted. However, now she is unable to repress a laughter. It was now that I realized that I gave her my full name and I want to kick myself for doing so. "Seriously what were your folks thinking when they named you that? Did they thought it was funny?" She said between laughs. I just glare at her, my eyes burning at hers. She ends with an awkward laugh. 

"I would like to know too." I say while marching away. I feel petty for leaving her like that after such a small thing, but that last comment really stung. She actually became less mean as years went on and I thought I had matured, able to take anything she could dish out. But of course, she proved me wrong. I went to the food table, hoping to calm down and eat something. Maybe go look for the gang since I haven't seen any of them since I searched for Wave. Wonder if Cream even bothered to do what I asked her to? However, before deciding what to do next, she sat right next to me. Great, what does she want? 

"I didn't mean it." Wait, is she apologizing? I look at her after a second. "Look, just because of whatever you might have seen or heard about me, doesn't mean it is truth. I might be harsh, but I am not heartless." She says, annoyed. I wonder what face I made a second ago to make her say that. 

"I didn't mean it either." I answer. 

"Want a beer?" "I am..." I stop mid-sentence, about to reveal that I wasn't old enough to drink. I am thankful that I could stop it. "...not thirsty." 

"Not after that kiss." She joked, making me blush. Chaos, she most be enjoying it. 

"Enjoying kicking someone down?" I asked, but I can't stop a smile. 

"It is not my fault you make it so easy." She replied. "I am glad someone is enjoying the moment." I look away and I know my smile is still on my face. 

"So, you aren't here for the fun of the party either?" 

"Nah, you could say I am here thanks to work." 

"Ooh. Interesting. What kind of work? Taking polls? Observing the life of the rich?... Assassination?" She said the last one with a very low volume, almost as if she was serious about it. And all I can think is that she is a little too intense. 

"N-no!" I answer. "I am babysitting." I answer. She lets go air from her nose, kinda like a chuckle. 

"Shouldn't you be looking for the little kids?" She asked. 

"Older siblings actually, ones that sometimes behave like kids." I could not help a groan at that moment.

"Eeeew." She said, making a wince. "As in plural? I have one of those and it can be hell on Earth." She said and I can't help but chuckle.

"Don't worry, they aren't as dumb as Storm, they just don't know how to behave like adults." When I finished, I make a quick scan, hoping to find someone. No luck, actually. 

"Either way, shouldn't you be looking for them?"

"Nah, I have faith they won't bring down the house." I decide to change the subject at this point. "What kind of job are you doing here?" 

"You know me so well, so you probably have a gist of what I am doing. Let's leave it at that." I expected that much. I was thinking to bring another subject when an idea stuck on my head. A good idea, or possibly the worst idea I could have. I blame the fact that I am so bored to such idea and why I look forward to it. 

"You know, I could be useful." I like to think I had a bit of mystery on my tone, to make me interesting. 

"Useful? Like you getting us caught a minute earlier?" I wince when she mentions it. "Just tell me you want another kiss." Now, my face is red, spreading to areas where the mask doesn't cover. "I don't care how much you want another kiss, you are not getting it." I was looking away when she said that. 

Trying to calm myself, I consider what can I say to convince her to let me help. I know I am asking for trouble if I keep this up. On the other hand, the Babylon have their treasures, things they want to preserver, to protect and take care. They have a legacy, one that deserves to be preserved, and maybe, one day share with the world. I am just saying. I get at her side, but we don't look at each other directly. I am constantly looking at her at the sides of my eyes, trying to get a read on her. 

"I know a bit about the Babylons." I scan her face as I talk, hoping to make a breakthrough and from the small movement on her eyes, I think I hit the nail. "From ancient materials and powers that mimic the legends of 'the One and thousand nights', to extensive sky cities with power against gravity. I know you people have a heritage and I think that deserves to be protected. Better on their predecessor hands than some rich snob." I finish. Now, she is giving me a careful scan, to what I try to keep a cool face, but I feel my mouth is twitchy, betraying me a bit. 

"Do I know you from somewhere?" She stared harder, and I can't help but gulp. Has she figured out my identity?

"As I said: I am a fan. And not like the crazy fans who can't even be bothered to remember a few things about their heroes." I repeat, thinking that it might be enough. 

"What the public knows about us are our racing careers and fake rumors we created. I repeat before I loose my patience: Do we know each other?" Uh ho, I wasn't expecting that, and I am sure that my silence is not helping me debunk her. 

"...Maybe I am better than you think at researching." I reply, but the stare doesn't harden or soften. "... Maybe in another lifetime." It comes like a sigh, not sure why. 

"Just that you know, saying nonsense is not the same than saying deep things." Wave commented, but I can see I got her to calm down. "Come." She took my hand, leading me to the dance floor. I gave a little jump when I realized that you put my hand on her hip, blushing a bit. She would then grab the other hand and spread her arm as far as she could. Before I knew it, we were in vals position. 

"Three, two, one." She said, signaling to prepare for the dance. After that, we started the slow dance, with Wave taking the lead. "You must be living the dream, considering that you have never been this closed to a woman." Wave quipped. I turned my head away, trying to hide and get rid of a blush. "That little experience, huh? You must have a sad life." She continued. 

"You make it sound like you are constantly going out with guys. Like a... you know." I can't believe I started that. I was able to stop just before I said something offensive, but she probably can put 1 plus 1. 

"Like a slut?" Wave suggested. 

"L-like a flirterer." I answer quickly, hoping to fix it, even though I don't think it will. 

"You are so PC... and an idiot." She replied. I don't reply, knowing that isn't true. I think I have my blush under control and I can finally look directly at her again. Here I notice that she is looking at the floor, continuously. 

"Is there a problem?" I asked and she gave a half jump.

"Yes, I am fine!" Wave replied, somewhat angry. "Are you ready to continue eating me with your eyes or what?" OK? Where did that came from? I broke the lock from one of our hands. "Oh, so you are..." I interrupt her, putting my hand under her beak and softly pushed it up. Right now, our eyes meet.

"I am not a vals expert or anything, but I know we are supposed to lock eyes." I couldn't help but sound uncertain, maybe saying it a bit like a question. I am not sure what devil got into me, since it felt so out of character from me. The best I can say is that I want to ease her up. She looks at me and blinks twice, surprised from what I can tell. We literally made one step of the dance before her foot crashed on mine, hard. 

I let go a deaf shriek of pain. "Sorry, sorry." Wave said, sounding like she was panicking. However, in her attempts to try to move and not hurt me further, she stepped on my feet three more times. By the fourth time she stomped me, she lets go my hand, looking ashamed. "Sorry." Wave said, apologetic. She walks away a bit. Is she ashamed about what just happened? Either way, I don't let her get to far. 

"I can take it." I say, thought my voice betrays the pain. But doesn't turn around. Uh-oh. Did I say something bad? Why am I thinking if I did something bad? Why am I worried about what she thinks? Then, she grabbed my hand. 

"Come with me." Wave said dragging me softly. I can only wonder where. Well, I didn't have to for long, as we get close to the restrooms. My body stiffened when I saw this. My mind was going at one miles per second, as well as my heart, trying to figure out what she was up to. "Wait for me outside." I nod silently, waiting for her as she entered the bathroom. I might look calm from the outside, but my mind was anything but that. Mostly because I would probably enjoy Wave taking me in with her. And I didn't like that I liked that this much. 

Again, she takes my hand and drags me. I don't voice myself at all. We then enter the bathroom and, in resume, got inside a toilet cabin as fast as we could. And now, we where inside the crammed space. And I can't help but gulp, feeling anxious, worried and a lot of things, more than I can process. "Lift me." She says and I don't respond. I am sure I am completely red right now. She groans, exasperated. "Look, there is a secret passage above this toilet. Lift me." 

"...Huh?" I sound disappointed. I sound disappointed that Wave and I aren't making out right now! God, I can't believe it. Thankfully, this did woke me up, so I knelled. Wave then lifted one leg, stepping on my shoulder. She proceeded to stand up on me. She is light. Lighter than I expected, but that isn't the problem right now, as my eyes, which I try to keep focused on nothing, move by themselves and stare at her legs... and going to... other places. 

"Ready." She says and I stand up, slowly, making sure she doesn't fall. Without loosing much time, Wave touches the tiles and one comes out easily. She jumps from me, which hurts a bit, but I don't wince. She entered and put the tile back again, looking like she had done nothing. I guess that was it. I think I am not to late to leave this. 

Then, the door opens. "OK, get out of here you..." It is the same guard from before. From what I can imagine, he expected to catch me and Wave in action. Well, it seems his hopes were also crushed.

"Do you mind?!" I kinda snap at him, frustrated. And I know that frustration is not because this guy. "Get out of here before your patron finds out you are harassing one of his guests." God, I am at a worse state than I thought. Wave, what are you doing to me and how? 

"F-forgive me." He replies, and leaves the room quickly. I sigh and let myself crash on the sit, question what will happen next. 

"Someone needs to release some stress." I hear Wave say. "Not with me, though. Get a girlfriend." She then removed the tile again. "So, are you coming?" 

Should I? I mean, with all this, it seams more trouble than worth it. On the other hand... Snob party, watching over my friends, general boredom. "Sure." Somebody, please stop me!

To be continued?


	2. Ballroom 1 Wave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Babylon Rogues go to a fancy party, unaware that Team Sonic is also there.

"And this, is the last escape route there is, big enough for any of us to escape." I explained. In one hand, I have my holo-pendant, showing my partners in crime the 3D structure of a manor, one that we will attack soon. The green color represent the building and the several different lights represent points and areas of interest.

"Any questions?" I ask, thinking that it is a stupid question. The moment I ask, both Jet and I look at the albatross, or rather, elephant in the room. Seriously, even the color matches.

He looked nervous, knowing well what he did wrong. "Ummm, Could you repeat?" He asked, apologetic. Jet and I face palm. Seriously, why do we even try? It is the same thing over and over!

"Damnit Storm." I snap.

"Wave. From the top, one more time." Jet interrupted. I sigh, but chose to obey him. Seriously, it is like this every time we go into a mission. No matter how simple I try to explain to this imbecile, he never gets it.

"This is Mr. Fancy manor." I repeat. With a touch of my finger, the different color lights disappear, only the general structure remains with its green color. "This is a five stories building, each floor about half the area of a soccer field. We must search the entire structure, hoping to find the sacred stones." Suddenly, the manor structure disappears and an egg shaped, jewel, at real size scale, meaning it is at least the size of an apple.

"The party he will be hosting is on the first two floors, so if we get spotted on the upper floors, there'll be trouble. Even if we make up a good excuse, the security might get tighter and maybe even cancel the party in hopes to prevent the criminals from stealing." I explained. Then, several lights pooped up, yellow colored. Some small points littered the first floor while the upper three were completely yellow.

"Yellow means unauthorized areas. These are even in floors like the original, mainly because..." Just at that second, blue dots appear. "The blue areas represent safe rooms and vaults."

Next, purple lines that ran between floors appeared. "He is a paranoid, even making shafts and routes strong enough to hold a person's weight, meant to help him escape if something bad happens. These are protected with laser security, but nothing I can't prepare us for."

Finally, red points appear in the structure. "The red points represent escape routes, big enough for any of us to escape without the need to cause damage. Remember, if the security sees any of us alone, they will tighten the security and our chances of getting the treasure back are gone." I say with fatality.

"Any...questions?" I ask, pressing my teeth.

If you asked me, Storm looked as clueless as before. He was about to say something, but I thank Jet for putting a hand on his mouth and stopped him.

"No questions." Jet said. "Now, let's go blow some steam before getting out of here." Oh no, Jet, you aren't leaving just yet.

"Wait Jet. We need clothing for both of you."

Jet chuckled. "We are perfectly fine."

"Sorry, but it is a fancy party. Either we go there wearing appropriately or we forget about even entering there." I explained. "So, you need..." I start, but Jet interrupts me.

"Don't you finish that sentence!"

I lift an eyelid. I seriously question from time to time what is on his mind sometimes. "You say it as if I don't say it, you would be able to get away without wearing..."

"I am serious!" He screams again, interrupting me.

I lift both my hands in signal of surrender. "Ok, Ok, geez. Sorry." As you probably imagine, I am not sorry.

"...Ok." He says

"Tuxedo." I sang.

Jet froze for a bit blinking twice, not nearly freaked out. I know why... tuxedo is not the thing he was thinking about."Huh, well that is not remotely as..."

"And feather gel." I said next.

"Gah." He lets go and I can't help but giggle. He might be the boss and he actually grew up a lot the last few years. While he is the youngest, he is actually just a little shorter than Storm in size and a little less bulky, but respectably muscular. But he is also the most socially awkward of the group. That is saying something if Storm is included in anything but fighting. "No. I refuse to that!"

"Jet..." I begin. Before continuing, I search for something to stand up on. A small wood step is what I find and use to stand up just at their height. I also touch my holo pendant, an inspiring piece music started playing.

"We are the descendants of the Babylonians, an ancient advance civilization lost to time. Any piece of technology, any stone, any scroll, anything that leads us to preserve their findings, their discoveries. We must do it, as the heirs of that civilization, it is our duty to go any lengths to get them, to be sure they are truly studied and well protected, instead of catching dust in the manor of some rich snob who bought them because they were shining. We are the Babylon Rogues and that is our mission." I end. Even if I say so myself, I think that came up well. However, I know my peers don't care nearly as much as I do.

They both looked bored and unimpressed. I sigh and turn off the music. Admittedly, I have said similar speeches all the time through our years of partnership, but they never cared for them, and maybe even frustrate them, not that different from my frustration at Storm. Except mine have actual beneficial purposes but I digress.

"Look, we need two hours to properly prepare. Be here by then." Jet said, walking away, followed by Storm. But I know that time won't be enough. But I don't worry about that.

Hours later

"I said two hours!" Jet is screaming at me, while shaking wildly. I don't pay him any attention. We are three hours away from the party, and I know very well that. If I want Jet and me to be ready, I will need the extra hour.

Right now, we are entering to his room. He is still riding his extreme gear, not by his choice, his arms wrapped up with a rope. I have the other loose end of the rope, pulling him and the board softly. If you are wondering what happened, it is simple: The extreme gears we use are all my creations, so I have fail safes if my siblings want to bail at their responsibilities... or if they annoy me too much. Storm knows I am not easy to deal with.

To be more specific, Jet cannot move his legs, as they are stuck to the board. He also doesn't have any control over the object, reason why I easily drag him into an undesired situation. However, he could use his arms to break free, even if that means damaging the board: He did it before, so the rope is also necessary.

Without much effort, I take the board away and get him into the room. Leaving him standing up for a while as I grab the tuxedo, still packed in a plastic bag. "Ready Jet?" I tell him. For some reason, he looked away. Really Jet, getting difficult now of all times? "What now?"

"Y-you know, I can't start changing clothes with a girl around." He says. I squint my eyes. Really Jet? This is sad.

"You are usually nude." I tell him, not even angry. Just, very disappointed. "Seriously, do not pull a Storm. God knows we have enough with one of him." I continue.

'Aaaachooooo!' And that was Storm sneeze that, while being at the other side of the ship, and we heard it clearly. It even shook the entire blimp. Always forget to not mention the guy out loud.

Without much more complains from my leader, he took each piece of the clothing and put them on: Black pants, a soft purple shirt and the black blazer. "There, ready." Jet said, already about to leave the room, when I sneak attack him, one hand full of transparent gel, while, with the free arm I try to hold him by the neck. "Gah." He exclaims, obviously not expecting me. I use the opportunity and smack him with the hand with the substance, maybe a little too hard since he lowered his head and screamed ouch, but, heh, I am here to do my job. So, the gel is now on place. I quickly grab a comb I have near by and... Jet already left the room. I follow him, knowing that he isn't fast enough to escape me. We are now running the hallway.

"Jet, don't be petty and come."

"Never!" He exclaimed back, looking back. Then, Storm opened a door to come out of it and, accidentally, Jet crashed against it. I use the opportunity, grab him again and start combing his feathers. Jet squirmed for a bit, but soon gave up. And if you are asking, this is more common than you might expect. Usually about studies when he doesn't want to practice, but I won't let him get away with not studying: As I said, I don't want a second Storm. Thought usually, it isn't that easy.

So, most of his back quills, which normally look wild, were put with the rest, looking rather ordered. However, it with his head that I try to give him a kind of good boy hairstyle, with a little wave on the front and neat lines above and the sides of the head. I know he doesn't like it, but it is the only hairstyle I can give him. "There, happy?" He complains.

"That is fine." I answer. Then I notice Storm coming up. I am relieved to announce that he was wearing his tuxedo with little issue, a black one too with a yellow shirt and even fixed his feathers himself. I have to admit, while he is an idiot, he handles this kind of stuff better than Jet. And here he comes with the ties, something that I actually don't know how to do.

"I will change into my clothing and fix my hair." I tell them, the main reason why I needed so much time. "If you remove the garments, change your hairstyle, damage any of them or do all of the above, I will kill Storm." I threatened.

"W-why me?!" Storm said, reasonably freaked out.

I smile, enjoying it a bit. But seriously, it is more likely for me to harm Storm than Jet, even if he is not guilty of my anger. Guess it is the older sister or motherly side or something. Don't really know.

Either way, I get to my room, alone. While I don't think they are perverts, I would rather not let them notice. So, my dress for the night is rather simple: a purple dress, somewhat darker than my feathers that covers most of my body somewhat tightly but not that uncomfortable, to make me look a little more attractive to the common man: that could come useful, although it could also back fire if I am not careful. It was wide on the back part, exposing my back a little and a rombo shaped hole, exposing my tummy.

Finally, I grab my feather braids and twisted them, turning into a single long and big braid. I think I look rather good. So I get out and... Both Jet and Storm fell asleep. Weird. I then look the clock and... Goddammit! Two hours went away!? While I was just dressing up! I waste no time waking them up.

Time later

"Ouch." I say, while crashing against a random man. Unlike before, I am wearing a large brown garment, nowhere near as well pretty as the one I had before, covering my braid too. We were in a hurry, running around the party area, but I accidentally crashed against him. He turned around, looking at me. He is still not wearing a mask, so I can say he is rather good looking, but the way he looks at me screams condescending: He looks at me like I am dirt or something not worth his time. He is accompanied by a fancy looking cat lady, with a little too much make up if you ask me. He turns back to look clearly where he was. At that moment, Storm and Jet pass right at his side, grazing him a bit. They are also covered in brown clothing.

"Hey, careful where you go." He tells us.

"You didn't even bother to help her!" Jet said.

He chuckled, obviously condescending. God, how much I want to smack him. "Please, you are in the place you belong to. You should be thanking me for putting you there. You don't want to mess with me." I clench my fists and bit my tongue, refraining me from escalating this.

"Now, dear. They are not worth our time. Even with our all money, they are not worth using any of it. Come on, we got a celebration to enjoy." The cat lady said. I see Jet and Storm growl at them, wishing to hit them as much as I do. They turn around and Jet and I felt like it was too much and were ready to jump at them, but Storm grabbed both of us and stopped us in place.

He shook his head, telling us not to do it. We don't want to, but we obey. I clean myself up, slapping the dust off. Look, don't you hate those rich guys who think they are so much better than everyone else? Doesn't help that we had to get everything we own by dirtying our own hands with work to have anything. I, in particular, built a lot of stuff from scraps. I admit, that gets me, just as much as Jet. Storm is a little more forgiving in that regard... and some others, if we are being fair. Guess being stupid makes you calmer? Maybe. You know what they say about ignorance and bliss. However, that doesn't mean we aren't going to get them.

"Did you get it?" I ask and Jet pulls out the invitation. "Perfect." I say with a smile.

We were on time for the party, obviously, but we didn't have an invitation. I mean, who would invite thieves to their party? So, we have to steal it from any of the real guests. However, we had to be careful about our choice. It had to be a rather unguarded, young man, maybe even a show-off that would have the invitation relatively unprotected. And we choose that loser. We remove the brown clothing revealing our real party gear, although I use my holo pendant to look at myself and I think my braids got a little messed up.

We break formation, disappearing from the visible areas, but still close by. I am not supposed to, but I get close to the doors of the manor, with guards checking the guests. As expected, the couple we stole the invitation are violently searching their pockets and bags for the invitation, but they can't find a thing. They try to get in, probably spouting nonsense about how rich they are, but the guards easily push them to the floor. God, it is so perfect! And, now that they are on the floor, the woman smacked him on the face, probably pissed about the fact that she could not enter to the party. Well, serves you right!

Once that is done, we go to the meeting area, put our masks on and enter the party. We show the invitation and the guards let us pass, though I feel their eyes boring on us. I hope they are like that to every guest. Either way, once in, we nod to each other and then split up, knowing that this way we would cover more area. I really hope Jet managed to explain the simple plan to Storm, before he messes up. Sometimes, I do think they are playing me up, just to bother me.

Anyway, I make a small journey to the first vault area, in this floor. I make sure it isn't a straight line, because that would likely be strange and suspicious. So, I move around and engage in conversation with the other guests. Of course, I can't act like myself with this people: that might also be a red flag. I try to remain polite and a little quirky, trying to appear approuchable and nice, maybe even a little naive, as well of making my voice higher than normal all the time. I hope it is enough to hide my identity.

And, it is harder than it looks. I already mentioned my general distaste for these kind of people, so every interaction brings a bit of anger in me, unable, at times, to fully maintain the character I am personifying. Now that they think I am a snob or at their same 'level', they are not that disrespectful, but instead, they bore me to dead with their speeches about how much money they have, about their boring enterprises and about all their families and such. They probably think they are so amazing, but they put me to sleep so easily.

And some of them don't hide their desires or intentions in the slightest. Some of the bunch can't keep their eyes away from the girls boobs or their butts. One in particular actually slapped my butt when I wasn't looking.

I made a movement, like trying to get as far away from whatever hit me. From what I can see, it is another fancy looking old man, drunk already.

"Hey *hic* sweaty *hic*. Come *hic* *hic* rrr." He said. I look around, trying to find and see if someone is going to do something about it, some companion or some guard, but people mostly look away and ignore him. Most be some very rich asshole, thinking he is bigger than life or something.

I want to slap his face across the room, but I can think of something better. I took his hand, delicately and as ladylike I can. "Would you like my company, gentleman?" Honestly, I know my facade is struggling to keep a straight smile, but he doesn't seem to notice or care.

He follows me for the time being, but I can feel that he wants to drag me to the bathrooms. Luckily, I manage to keep him in place for now. I take him to the spot I want him to be and tell him I will get us a drink. I keep an eye on him while I walk, hoping to avoid any more slaps.

So I pass through the dinning table, but, instead of grabbing any drink, I grab a solid cube of coconut, small but enough for what I want to do. It was supposed to be eaten, but I have other plans for it. I get closer, but still far enough that he won't see me and wait.

I didn't have to wait long, as a couple manages to come by the drunk man. I make a mental calculation and throw the fruit. It bounced behind the wall and hit the man, pushing him to the couple. I then look and walk away, but the screams and anger manages to tell me it went alright. I turn around, and see the drunk man on a woman and his mate looking reasonably pissed, specially because the drunk man's hand is on a sensible area of the woman.

I smile internally, knowing that will get some attention away, without risking the mission. So I got into one of the forbidden room and make my search. I check every object around, trying to find stuff of value. I take my time, hoping to find something. Perhaps too long.

"Who's there!?" Dammit, a guard. It will enter any moment. My first thought is trying to find any of the extra routes I showed Jet and Storm, but my first action was looking behind and discovered a big problem.

There is someone else in the room. I might be able to find a escape route, but if this guy is caught and sells me or causes the end of the party and the tightening of the security, I am in trouble.

I have a little solution to this problem, though it would never be my first choice. I crash against that random man and smack my beak into his muzzle.

I still have my eyes open and he is extremely surprised, not kissing back instantly or closing his. But soon, he closes his and kisses back.

From what I can feel, he is enjoying it, but he is shy, insecure. Probably doesn't get much action, if any at all. Perfect. He will be easier to manipulate. I will admit, the kiss is not half bad, despite being a little weird. Admittedly not my first time kissing someone that isn't of my same species, nor the best one. I however, notice a shy, shaking tongue with my own, just as ashamed and insecure as him. I wonder what will happen if I give him a little push...

I decided to wrap my tongue with his and I can feel him shaking with pleasure. It seems I did woke something on him, because his hands go wild over me, pressing and touching.

'Mmmm' I can't help but let go a moan. Look, I don't hate this, if I am being honest, but this is business. Only doing it because it is an emergency. Then, he puts a hand on my ass, half a slap, but it only makes me moan louder. I can feel him, trying to somehow kiss me more, despite our different mouths. I can feel him trying to hug me closer, although it was physically impossible.

I kinda like it, but that's it. This is not great. This is the kind of reaction we get because we were built this way, to love it. This is nothing special.

That's what I keep telling myself after my legs grew minds of their own, wrapping around his torso and generating even more pleasure.

I can feel my reason voice growing smaller by the moment, only thinking about how much I like it. I am so thankful that my lungs burn hard, asking for air, or who knows where we would be.

We separate, both gasping for air. And our eyes lock to each other. He has sweet blue eyes and there is something about the way he is looking at me. Like, I am something... precious. I don't like it. I don't like it.

"Ahem." We heard. And he stiffened, like a rock, probably too ashamed to react. What an idiot. Still, I am glad that I can take control of the situation.

"Upsy." I say, in a happier and higher tone than my normal. "Guess they caught us. Would you put me down sweetie?" I say, looking at the fox. He still looks troubled, but puts me down slowly. Good, I have not broken him completely. Now, I direct my eyes to the guard. "Sorry, you know how couples can be. We sometimes can't stop and we didn't want to show off at the party." Right now, I can only hope this is enough for him.

"OUT!" He screams, getting both of us out. When I make sure that the guard is out of sight, I take long steps away from the fox man, hoping to lose him by going to the crowd.

"Wave." I heard being called out and feel that someone grabbed my hand, softly yet firm. And my heart stops. Goddammit, this idiot is going to screw everything. I turn around and I am pretty sure it is the same guy from the dark room.

"Bless you." I answer, smiling the best I can. He seems confused about my answer. Great, he is clueless, so much that he has yet to let go of my hand. Guess I better spell it to him. "Would you mind unhanding me, sweetie?" I say, managing, barely, to be in character. He lets go of me and I can't walk fast enough to get away from him. But he is following me, I know it. God, I kissed a stalker that knows who I am. What have I gotten myself into?

"Wave." He repeats, a little laughter and close. For the love of Chaos, shut up!

"Bless you." I mechanically turned around and repeat, unable to hide my growl. I walk again as fast as I can.

And, he grabs my hand again. I swear, I will kick his teeth out. "Wave, I know..." That's it. I grab the guy by the tie and drag him into an utility closet, which I knew was nearby. I crash him against the wall, with be being on top. No, don't you dare think dirty about that!

"Chaos dammit, are you stupid or what!? What is the point of a mask if you are going to tell my name to everybody?!" There was nothing to hide and I didn't want to. This guy was really getting on my nerves.

"Sorry, not my intention." He says. Yeah, right, not your intention at all. Then, we accidentally lock eyes again, and he freezes in place. Shit, maybe I spoke too soon about breaking him.

Then, light came as the door of the closet opened. "Will I have to follow you around all night?" The guard complained.

"Sorry." I say, dragging him away, to what he does not voice any complains. I take him to a somewhat private area, without many guest that might eavesdrop us. "Who are you and what do you want?" I cross my arms, trying to sound demanding. And this guy still has his heart in his sleeve: I can tell he is worried about my question, even if he has the mask on.

"... I am your fan." He says. I hope he realize my stare is not convinced with that, or else he is as much of an idiot as Storm. Maybe more.

"HA, HA. I don't mean like that clown. I mean a real name since you know mine. It is only fair." I reply and wait for a second and half for his reply.

"... I am Miles." Yeah, right.

"As in, I am the only thing in miles that matters to you? Or you counted the miles you had to travel to find me? Or that your love reaches further than all the miles of the universe?" I let out. I am probably being to hard on him, but I can't help it. I have heard one too manynames that lead to puns and pick up lines. I am taking none of that today.

He winces but then replied. "Geez, a wave of insults. I didn't expect them to be so hard to swallow!" Huh, not the reply I was expecting. Not that bad either, honestly.

"Hardy Har. I am serious. What is your name?" I ask again, without any sound of amusement. But he looks at me with confusion.

"My name is Miles. Miles Prower."

I blink twice when he says that. "It wasn't a pick up line? Or meant to turn into one?" I ask. Seriously, I didn't even consider he was serious about his name. And... Miles Prower... Miles Prower... MILES FUCKING PER HOUR!

I try to repress a laughter but I can't.

"Seriously what were your folks thinking when they named you that? Did they thought it was funny?" I joke. I imagined this guy is not amused by this like I am. What I was not expecting was that his angry stare made me feel afraid of him. I mean, he is bigger than me, gives a needed vibe, a fox which is a predator and I have being pushing him around a bit. I don't know what kind of person he might really be, so who know how dangerous he really was. But there was something else, something different bothering me that the stare caused.

"I would like to know too." He says, somber and walks away.

OK, there. He has finally let you alone. You should go back to you mind your own business and leave him to his. I think all of that while the rest of my body is in some kind of shock, not able to move at once and with my heart rate to the roof. I keep processing our little exchange and finally realized what had bothering me. I felt bad that I treated him like that.

Don't look at me like I am an alien! Of course I feel guilt. But... never for a stranger, or someone just passing by. It is usually someone I know and I have been particularly mean.

But... Why him? Do I know him? The name doesn't ring any bells. But I do feel he is hiding something. Was he more than a stalker? I mean, probably not? He was playing with his heart on his sleeve. Or was he?

I grab my head, thinking it was a little too chaotic in there. Only one thing was sure up there though... I need to meet that guy again.

It doesn't take me long to find, eating something from the table. I go there and sit right next to him. And I can feel he doesn't want me nearby.

"I didn't mean it." I say. I hope he realizes how hard that was. His face of absolute confusion and surprise tells me otherwise. Like he can't believe I am apologizing. "Look, just because of whatever you might have seen or heard about me, doesn't mean it is truth. I might be harsh, but I am not heartless." I reply, thinking right away that I should tone it down.

"I didn't mean it either." He answers, perfectly in control. And I realize that I am now the one with her heart on her sleeve. Better tone it down.

"Want a beer?" I ask.

"I am... not thirsty." That pause did not go unnoticed to me. I am not sure why though. Dammit, didn't think the mask would become a hindrance. But I know what to reply.

"Not after that kiss." I say playful and he blushed completely red. This is... No Wave, you are not enjoying this. You are not.

"Enjoying kicking someone down?" He tries to sound offended, but he has a smile across his face.

"It is not my fault you make it so easy." I answer.

"I am glad someone is enjoying the moment." He says, smiling a little but his voice was somewhat sad or bored, I am not sure. So he is here by obligation? This peaks my curiosity a little.

"So, you aren't here for the fun of the party either?" Careful Wave, don't give away more information.

"Nah, you could say I am here thanks to work." He replies.

"Ooh. Interesting. What kind of work? Taking polls? Observing the life of the rich?... Assassination?" I highly doubt he would tell me if he was going to do something bad, but I do it anyways. And he freaks out a bit.

"N-no!" He needed a moment to add something else. "I am babysitting."

Huh, doesn't sound like the kind of job I was expecting. Then again, he must be doing a lousy job, considering he doesn't have any kids around. "Shouldn't you be looking for the little kids?" I ask.

"Older siblings actually, ones that sometimes behave like kids."

Ewwwwww. "Eeeeewww." I wince when I say that. "As in plural? I have one of those and it can be hell on Earth." He chuckles at my answer.

"Don't worry, they aren't as dumb as Storm, they just don't know how to behave like adults." He says, but his gaze goes to the whole visible area, probably hoping to find any of them. He doesn't have any success from what I can tell.

"Either way, shouldn't you be looking for them?"

"Nah, I have faith they won't bring down the house." Bring down the house? What kind of people are we talking about? No, wait, he is probably just exaggerating. "What kind of job are you doing here?" He asks.

"You know me so well, so you probably have a gist of what I am doing. Let's leave it at that." OK, I know that I demanded him to tell me who he was and he told me what he was doing here, but I am not going to get into details into what I am doing.

"You know, I could be useful." He says, somewhat mysterious. I am actually not worried because it doesn't make me buy it.

"Useful? Like you getting us caught a minute earlier?" He winces at my reply. "Just tell me you want another kiss." And now he is red again. And I start telling myself to stop it and stop enjoying it, so I look away. "I don't care how much you want another kiss, you are not getting it."

There was a somewhat long silence after that before. "I know a bit about the Babylons." I can't stop a small movement, as my body gets on alert, my attention on him. "From ancient materials and powers that mimic the legends of 'the One and thousand nights', to extensive sky cities with power against gravity. I know you people have a heritage and I think that deserves to protected. Better on their predecessor's hands than some rich snob." Now I am really worried about what I might be getting myself into. The incidents with the extreme gear competitions where cataloged as caused by Eggman, so, to the public, we the rogues had nothing to do with the Black Hole in Meteo Tech or the apparition of Babylon Gardner. Most of the stuff that we spread are false legends, ridiculous stuff that some of our fans actually buy. Then, how does he know about that and our legacy?

Plus, the way he says it... He understands. Jet and Storm don't care enough for this, but him. He understand what I am trying to achieve. What I dream one day. Why this is so important. This only makes me even more cautious.

The only people who should know about that are... Team heroes? Dammit, I am really losing it here. I take a careful look at him.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He gulps. I keep checking him out. The tail suggest he is a fox. Shorty? I mean, come on. There is no way he is... Or there is? I mean, it has been a few years since we saw each other. Maybe. Maybe he is using something to hide his true form, reason why he only has one tail? Not likely, after all we touched each other too intimately. I need more proof.

"As I said: I am a fan. And not like the crazy fans who can't even be bothered to remember a few things about their heroes." Nice try, but I got you.

"What the public knows about us are our racing careers and fake rumors we created. I repeat before I loose my patience: Do we know each other?" His facade breaks further, genuinely surprised. He did not see it coming.

"...Maybe I am better than you think at researching." That isn't enough and I don't even have to voice my opinion for him to realize this. "... Maybe in another lifetime."

What kind of answer is that? "Just that you know, saying nonsense is not the same than saying deep things." I joke, but I know there is more to it. But I might not get it if I don't act a little more approachable. I take his hand at that moment. "Come."

I take his hand and move to the dance area. We had being sitting there for a little too long, so I think we need to look a bit more natural. I put his hand on my hip and he jumped on his place. God, is this guy for real? Without any signal of my frustration I take his hand and we got into vals position.

"Three, two, one." I signal and we start dancing. I am little worried about this, but I know what to do. "You must be living the dream, considering that you have never been this closed to a woman." I say and he blushes. Dammit, why I enjoy every time that happens. Wave, lock your feelings. What matters now is to get him to look away, which happened. Good, keep him ashamed, while I look below, trying to not step him. "That little experience, huh? You must have a sad life."

"You make it sound like you are constantly going out with guys. Like a... you know..." He tried to defend himself, but stopped short, probably to be correct. I wonder why he even bothers, he must know I don't care about that.

"Like a slut?" I suggest.

"L-like a flirterer." He answers. Really?

"You are so PC... and an idiot." I say. He doesn't reply, at least for a short while. I know this won't last so I try to think of another topic that might keep him ashamed.

"Is there a problem?" He asks and I half jump. I then look up, meeting eyes with him.

"Yes, I am fine!" I sound angrier than I intended. "Are you ready to continue eating me with your eyes or what?" I say. Dammit, he is not ashamed, he is confused, curious. And I can't help but look down at that moment. But then, he breaks free from one of my hands. "Oh, so you are..." I start, but the soft touch under my beak, the soft caress under it makes me look up, meeting his eyes again.

"I am not a vals expert or anything, but I know we are supposed to lock eyes." My heart makes a happy leap when he said that. God, this is more than I bargained for. To make things worse, a wrong step from my part ended in me stomping on his foot. Hard.

He lets go a deaf scream. "Sorry, sorry." In the time I say that, I stomp on him again and again. And I am only panicking further. I know he is trying to avoid my feet, as I am trying to avoid his, but we somehow keep meeting, my foot on his. I swear, this all is an accident. After a while, I just break free, ashamed. "Sorry." I repeat

I don't know how to dance vals well, OK? I know the basic, but I have never practiced it. That's why I was constantly looking down, to make sure I avoided this. But he had to take my eyes away from that. Now hell was let loose.

"I can take it." He says. It is actually more insulting than he thinks I want him to patronize me. And he still sounds hurt. I need to get out of the dancing room now. So I take his hand again and guide him.

"Come with me." I say. I have spent way too much time just fooling around. I take him to the restrooms and to a shortcut I know. When we are just in front of the door, I notice him stiffen. God, why is he so nervous? "Wait for me outside." I say and he nods. I enter on the bathroom, while trying to not think about what he is thinking. I don't like the idea of fueling a man's wet fantasies, but I need some help. Good, there are no people in here. I barely come out, just enough to grab him and drag him again. Without wasting a second I take him to one of the toilet cabins and close the door.

"Lift me." I say. But he remains frozen and getting redder and redder, even more than before. God, I don't need this! "Look there is a secret passage above this toilet. Lift me." I explain in a whisper, knowing I could not loose any time.

"...Huh?" God, he sounds disappointed. This is only getting more complicated by the second. However, he kneels to me, so I put a leg on his shoulder and stand up on him.

"Ready." I say. He then stood up, in a way that there was no risk for me to fall. I then tapped the tiles of the wall, finding the loose tile and making it come out. I then jump, there, while putting the tile back on its place, looking like nothing happened.

So, here I am, with a route to the other rooms and to what I know will be a safe room. I could move here, leave the guy and act like nothing happened. There, everything is perfect. But I never got the answer I wanted. And that was bothering me more than I wanted to admit.

"Ok, get out of here you..." I stiffened. Was I caught? Were they into me? Now what?

"Do you mind?!" I blinked twice. That was the fox. And apparently sounded assertive. Nice... Wait what? What am I thinking? "Get out of here before your patron finds out you are harassing one of his guests!" Huh, didn't think he had it in him. But if he has the confidence to say that, means he is a guest. A rich person or someone of importance. God, who is he?!

"F-forgive me." He replies and I hear a door close. Must have been a guard. I know I am asking for trouble... Ah, whatever!

"Someone need to release some stress." I say. "Not with me, though. Get a girlfriend." I then remove the tile and he is looking directly to it. "So, are you coming?" I ask, knowing I am putting everything I am doing here in jeopardy and not caring enough about it.

There was a good minute of silence before he said. "Sure." Well, whatever comes next, there is no turning back now.

To be continued?


	3. First Impressions Tails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A retelling of the events of the first Sonic Riders game seen from Tails perspective, mainly about his reactions to Wave the swallow, his rival to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I imagine most people want Ballroom part 2, but this was mostly done by the time I published ballroom 1 here, so is this or waiting for around a month for the next part.**

(Crash!) We hear. Sonic, Knuckles and me were searching for the emeralds, but, out of nowhere, there was a jamming signal, blocking my machines. We still had an idea of where the gem was, but not the exact position.

Then again, we didn't need to search too exhaustively, because three anthros appeared riding these extreme gears. They are these high speed hover boards that, unless you were an expert, could easily cripple someone, but these three showed their talent. To make things worse, they left the jamming area and my tracking device showed that they had the emerald.

"Sonic, the emerald is over there!" I scream and him and Knuckled disappeared.

Sonic tailed at them. While their gears were fast, they shouldn't be able to escape him with ease. And Knuckles actually intercepted them, taking a short cut and getting in front of them. Sonic and Knuckles no words teamwork is always impressive.

Knuckles managed to intercept one of them and get him off his board, but the big bird managed to grab one of his partners. Sonic still followed them, but, after a good while, lost them.

I wasn't too interested in that. What had my attention was this symbol on the board: a circle with something like a lamp from the 'one and a thousand nights' with a beak that resembled a bird and three cloud thingies with a trail, moving to the other side.

I am sure I had seen that somewhere before.

_Some time later_

Eggman announces that competition and showed us these bird racers. Sonic said that they were the ones that stole the emerald. Which makes sense, since Eggman is demanding at least a chaos emerald for each participant of the main attraction and there are eliminators to determine who earns the emerald. I mean, seriously? We are going to play by his rules?

Apparently yeah, because we are participating, learning to use extreme gears, while we help Eggman reunite the emeralds for his next big evil plan! {Sigh} Being the smart guy that no one listen is so infuriating at times.

Still, there is a silver lining to this: Wave the swallow. She is the pioneer of extreme gears, the mother figure, so to speak. I read once about her in a magazine: they could not get an interview with the girl, mainly because she is considered a big criminal along her partners. The magazine only had one image of her making a trick, the same one Eggman showed.

And most of the things that a lot of other experts know about the machines was born from pieces of her damaged boards, not that different from me who used the gear they left behind as the base for our new equipment. No matter how much the mechanics tried imitate her or tried to outsmart and improve her designs, she was always ahead of them. I will admit, I am fan-boying here with hopes of meeting her in person!

Like when I first met Sonic. Except that, well I squealed like a girl when that happened. I think I can keep my emotions in check.

At that moment, Amy popped out of nowhere, as she usually does and tried to flirt with Sonic and all that. I don't remember what we were talking about but the conversation eventually lead to me explaining what I discovered both about the ancient Babylonians and the actual Babylon Rogues. I still can't believe we have more information on an ancient lost civilization than on these three. They know what they are doing.

That lead me to trying to explain the Kowalski theorem of lift to Knuckles, something that, in hindsight, I should have imagine I wouldn't be able to.

"Hahahahaha." We hear a voice and, I can't help but tense up. Coming from the road, was Wave the Swallow. I opened my eyes a lot and couldn't help but be on my guard. I kinda want to leave a good impression on her, but her laughter only makes me feel more concerned. "Sorry, but it is just too funny!" She mocked Knuckles.

OK, Knuckles is not the smartest guy, but mocking him is not correct either way. Before I knew it, her eyes shift to my person and I gave a half jump. "Humm, That gear is unusual." She says.

"Customized it myself." I say, trying to tone down the pride and hand it down to her. She observes it with a careful eyes and I can feel the suspense is killing me for a moment. Suddenly, she burst into a laughter and I feel my heart sink a few meters.

"Well, I never imagined anyone would enter the competition with such a piece of junk!" Is it possible for someone to know how it feels that your heart cracked? I mean, I know what I am saying is nonsense, if my heart cracked, I would likely be dead or having some severe illness, but I cannot put it into any other words. I was so shocked and hurt that I didn't register that my friends were as shocked and upset as me. "Thanks, though, it was good a laugh." She gave me my board back, and I just take it without telling her anything. I am still in shock.

My friends say some stuff at this point: Amy wants to defend me and get a little savage on that girl, trying to follow her; Sonic had to stop her from doing something that she would likely regret; and Knuckles says something that would likely offend me under normal circunstances. But none of them matter now, as I am still processing what she said.

As I shook in anger, all I thought at that point, was that I did not care that she was the pioneer of extreme gear, the best mechanic girl that I knew, a skilled racer that could give Sonic a run for his money even if the hedgehog was using his supernatural speed. She was the girl that was going to taste my dust!

_A little ahead with the competition_

I want to bang my head into the wall, harshly, over and over. Maybe I can knock myself out and forget about all this trial. I lost, not even competing against her like it happened to their gray albatross against our echidna, but to a bunch of Eggman's trial robots with no personality. But, in my defense, and my reason to not give myself a concussion, is also the reason why I haven't rest properly in the last few weeks.

I have done everything in my power to build this new and improved extreme gear, just for Sonic to defeat these guys. I will admit, my priority was never winning the race itself but revealing as much of the extreme gears secrets as soon as possible, but right now I wished I had at least one more hour of sleep so that I would have been better rested, would probably passed that race and I would not have TO LISTEN TO THAT BIRD WOMAN MOCKERY!

Chaos, I can't remember when was the last time someone got under my skin like she does. But this is good, because there will be no more holding back, no more playing around. I will best that bird woman in the mechanic ground.

To do so, I have this new board that I am building from nothing. The red rock, blue star and yellow tail were built from pieces from Wave's gear, as I mentioned earlier. But this one will be the most advance I can make at my level. So this new board is my one chance of beating her.

_Right at the end of the competition_

"Tails, wake up." I hear Amy, but her voice is distant and unclear. I muffle some complains, as the darkness I see is cut by half and some light blinds me for a moment.

"What is going on?" My voice could not be any more drowsy. However, my eyes go to the closest monitor and notice that there is a race going on. "Who is competing?" I ask Amy, still very drowsy.

"Sonic vs Jet." She says without any implication but that felt like my head was hit, the sleep remaining disappearing in a blink.

"...AND NO ONE ELSE?!" I can't hide my surprise.

"Yeah, it is the finale." She says. No no no no no no NO! Sonic is still competing with the first extreme gear, not the improved one. Plus, I haven't even touched that board since the day that Wave checked out.

Honestly, how could I have made such a mistake?! How did I let this happen? Sonic could easily beat that Hawk, but this is a race with vehicles and it doesn't matter how fast he might be, that board is at anything but good condition.

I effectively start eating my fingers away, absolutely afraid of what might happen now.

_The last lap_

Thank Chaos, Sonic is going to win. He has a good advantage over Jet, and he is going to cross the finish line very soon. He is going to win despite my huge mistake!

Despite my huge mistake... That thought led to a bunch of mixed feelings: I am angry because I worked like a madman to help Sonic, but I not only did not help him, he literally is winning without my help at all. It makes me feel inconsequential.

Not only that, but now I feel guilty because I feel like I want something bad to happen to him to feel like I make a difference. Sonic, the best brother I could have asked for who would almost never harm me directly.

I thought for a moment that it could not get any worse, but it was that day that I learned that you never think that, because something bad happens if you do. Yeah, for a person of science it is nonsense, but you should not ignore something with a tendency even if you can't explain it.

Suddenly, the board exploded. My heart sank as Sonic was sent flying, away from the finish line. And the green bird man passed him with complete ease. My heart sank, I put my hands on my mouth, even though I could not produce a sound at the moment. It took me a while to notice it, but I started to shed tears at that moment. Not only did I failed to help him, I became the very reason why Sonic lost.

Suddenly, Jet sets the final emerald and the sky darkened, as a giant flying structure came from the air to meet the arena.

_Some time later_

We saw how Eggman made a dash on his vehicle to the flying fortress. We follow on him with a flying ship, but the winds are too strong. If I am not wrong, the few things that could resists this is reaching high speeds. "Sonic, jump out of the plane. Go get them before it is too late."

"...Hey, you have been working on another board, right?" Sonic says, changing the topic.

"Sonic, that doesn't ma..." I continue but he interrupts me.

"C'mon. I wanna give it a run." He said casually. Is he nuts? "Your face is funny." Sonic jokes.

What expression was I doing? Probably of absolute disbelief. "Sonic, we need to stop Eggman from winning. Use your feet. They are more reliable than my stupid gears. One just cost you your victory!"

He then puts a hand on my shoulder. I know I cannot help but look at him like if he was an alien. But he chose to ignore it. "This one won't." He reassures me.

Dammit Sonic. You are taking an unnecessary risk just to make me feel better?! "Tails, just give him the stupid thing already." Knuckles joined.

"B-but..."

"He has already made up his mind." He says.

And I see it. And it is completely nuts! But, admittedly, this is why I admire Sonic.

I hand him the board. He and Knuckles are ready to jump, when the winds suddenly blow harder, being too much for us. Knuckles loses his balance, but Sonic managed to get out. Now, I do everything in my power to make sure we have a survivable crash.

We crash against a random part of the wall, much further away from the treasure than I had hoped. I am also dazed, to boot. And the plane doesn't remain stuck for long, moving from its crashing site and who know where it is going to fall. Had it not being for Knuckles getting me out of there, I don't known where I would be.

So, we land with our extreme gears at hand. "We must catch up to Sonic." Knuckles said. And soon, we do as he says.

_Time later_

Sonic actually won against the leader of that Team, but, honestly, it feels empty. I can't overlook the fact that I made Sonic lose in front of everyone. The irony is not lost to me: Sonic did not need me for the win, yet I completely hold the blame for costing him the victory.

Sonic told me that I should take it easy, that there will be more competitions. I take that the wrong way.

For the next few days, I work on my extreme gears and nothing else, without rest until I lose consciousness. Then I wake up and repeat the process. I am not the healthiest around but this was going to take its toll if I didn't stop.

Thankfully, it never came to something worse, as in a couple of days, Amy and Sonic came and interrupted my job.

"Tails?" I felt a hand on my head, earning my attention. Both Sonic and Amy came. Amy had her arms crossed, looking mad at me. Uh-oh, what did I do this time? "Do you remember what day is today?" Amy said.

"I don't know." I replied, some frustration coming from my body.

"It is the second Friday of the month. You know, the day we were supposed to meet with Vanilla?" The anger on Amy's tone grew as the words progressed and I winced when the issue landed on me.

"Sorry, I forgot."

"You forgot?" Amy tone was of disbelief. "Tails, we promised. And you never forget. We have been doing this for years now. What happened?"

"...Guess there is a first time for everything." I offer, but the hedgehog sniffed audibly with her nose.

"...You are already on one of your projects, right?" Sonic added, putting hand on the board on the table. I think he is trying to defuse the situation, which I am really thankful. "Extreme gears, huh?"

"You bet!" I say, a little too excited. "I am testing several different configurations, different cases and more. I am even trying to give them an entirely different shape: instead of boards, I wanna try roller blades." I shot at them rapidly. It is just that I am excited to show them my progress.

However, they are not as excited as me. Far from it, both exchange concerned looks. My faces deflates. What does that mean?

"So, **this** is what you have been doing for the last week? Is **this** why you missed your appointment with Cream and Vanilla? On **this** waste of time?" She emphasized 'this' too much, almost like a bite. That made me wanna wince, but it was the waste the word that hit a sore spot.

"It is not a waste!" I snap. I cannot accept that. It won't be a waste.

"Tails, have you even gone out from home the last few days? Have you eaten properly? Or bathed?"

"That doesn't matter." I snap again. And I just feel the anger build up more and more. Sonic says something, but it is mute in comparison with my inner voice.

The one that tells me that they don't understand. That they are to different, too simple minded to do so. And in my frustration, I find myself agreeing.

"Doesn't matter? Are you crazy?!" Amy's voice is steadily growing louder.

"If you think so, you have never seen yourself."

"What?!" Amy spits, with a glare. And it is now that my angry voice became silent, as I realize the danger my mouth got me into.

I cannot thank God enough for the fact that Sonic separated us. He then turned to Amy and said. "I will handle this."

"But..." Was all that Amy muttered before Sonic pushed her out. Then, he turns to me.

He is upset. Sonic is known for being a happy go-lucky idiot who doesn't care about consequences. Who only spits cheesy one liners and stupid jokes.

The things is... he keeps that facade for everyone that looks up to him. Well, facade is excessive, as he does enjoy all that. But then, there are also this times when he proved me that he is more mature than he people think.

And I look down. I cannot match his stare. I can feel his disappointment, and how his eyes never go away from me. God, just, get over with it. I feel so... small.

"Tails, can I ask you something?" His tone is nice, but I know his stare hasn't softened. I nod. "What happened about that VR game you wanted to make?"

I remember. It was about being a mechanic. And I completely forgot about it. But I can't bring myself to admit it, so I just remain silent.

"What about your planes? Have you improved any of them?" Another thing I used to work all the time, but neglected. And it went like that: robot pets, hacking devices, blimps and many other pet projects I just left on the dust.

"Everything has been extreme gears then." He points out. "And, are you sure you want that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, you want to dedicate your entire life to that and only that?"

... Do I? I then remember Wave and say. "Yes!" I... I cannot believe the conviction I say that. Sonic then puts a hand on my head.

"Do you want that? Or do you wanna beat that girl that much?" ... Am I that easy to read? "Do you think it is healthy? Obsessing like that?"

Damn, his words are heavy, like an anvil falling on my head. But, it works because I am no longer justifying my actions. He just disarmed that like nothing.

I lower my head and all I can say is "I am sorry."

"Hey. It's okay. I know you didn't want to do that. But it will take more to convince Amy." He whispers to me the last part and both of us shudder. He then gets some distance between us, the heavy ambiance lifting. I am at ease enough that I say.

"I don't know what got into me."

Sonic then turned around and lightly comments. "She is your rival."

... My... rival. Like Shadow for Sonic? Or Rouge for Knuckles? Well, I guess it does adds up. The desire to best each other, the uneasiness, the distaste for each...

Distaste. Did she really deserve it? The way they trash talk... The hostility... Do I wanna do that?


	4. First Impressions Wave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wave first encounter with Tails, as well of his acceptance as a decent mechanic.

Flying with my team, grabbing the gem, escaping from the useless cops. Another great job done. I don't like the idea of doing that Eggman freak dirty work. I did warm Jet and all, but he doesn't listen. Either way, getting our hands on these gems and discover some of their secrets is an opportunity we can't miss. And the security here is laughable, like robbing a candy from a baby.

Jet, Storm and I were already on our way, almost out of this city, with the emerald, without much to worry about. Out of nowhere, this crazy blue light came following us. Don't misunderstand, we ourselves are blurs of our respective colors, but, he is not floating, meaning he is not using an extreme gear. Is it a robot?

Oh, shit! Jet is the most impulsive one, using his fans to generate harmful gushes of wind, but the blur managed to just dodge them.

{Bam!} I was distracted by the blue blur when I notice that Storm is flying to my direction.

"Dammit!" I let go and he grabbed the tail of my board, ruining my control. "Are you kidding me?! What happened?!" I scream at him, just before I look at the road. There is a red echidna at the beginning of the tunnel that we are going in. The board landed around him, meaning that he was the one that intercepted Storm.

"Jet, orders!" I demand on the comm.

"Get the gem to the ship! I will handle them." He assures me. I am worried. He is our leader, and he is inexperienced, but I obey him anyway.

_Later_

"There. No problem!" Jet says.

"Are you kidding me!?" I snap, and both of them looked shaken. Yeah, I am his subordinate, but he is also my younger brother. "Do either of you know what were chasing us?" I demand and both just shrug. I rolled my eyes, knowing that this was to be expected.

"Look, that blue blur was Sonic the hedgehog. His legs let him go at the speeds we reach with our extreme gears! The red one that managed to tap Storm, even at those crazy speeds was Knuckles the echidna. And both of them are participating in the competition!" I explain, clearly.

"... So that means, that I can fight that loser in my own game." Jet said, with a supposedly, wicked smile. He just looks off.

"No! It means they are dangerous! They have stopped Eggman countless times. You know, the guy who made us the offer of the treasure. I don't care about our reputation, but being tangled with him is dangerous and..."

"Come on, Storm, let's find something to steal." Jet interrupts me.

"Are you even listening to me?!" I scream, but they ignore me, already arriving at the door.

"Relax Wave. Those guys have never used a board ever on their lives. It is going to be a piece of cake." He says and leaves.

I let go a groan as I pull my head braids. God, these guys just don't listen. Either way, I continue with my research. It bothers me that I have to pick these guys slack, but I concentrate on other things.

Although, Jet does have a point: these guys probably don't have any experience with gears, and much less know how they work. At least, not to our degree. Still, to be sure, I hack into the cameras of the competition and spy them. Just in time too, the blue hedgehog and the red echidna are participating on their first preliminary race. This either proves useful or proves that I have nothing to worry about.

_A race later_

Are you kidding me?! Are those two really rookies?! I mean, they are not quite at the level of any of us, but they had complete control on their races. They can't be rookies.

And those boards, they are not standard boards that you can just buy; they are clearly modified. I spy at them as they leave and, I notice this little yellow fox with them. I get a little curious and try to find some info about him. He is Tails the fox, partner of the hedgehog and, apparently... He is their mechanic? {Puff} Yeah, right. He is a ten year old boy... or girl? That voice is funny. And he is still a kid. Here it says he is a boy, though I am not that convinced.

His racing skill are nowhere near as impressive as the other two, but he is still too good for a rookie. There must be some catch. The only explanation is that they have a personal and skilled mechanic that wishes to remain a secret. There is no way that little fox is the mechanic.

I might not be able to get into that right now, as the competition is my priority and all, but I can get into other stuff to tip the scales in our favor.

_Time later_

I hear the red one screaming. I am waiting around, spying them. And I already know how to make my entrance. I walk toward them, using my best mockery laughter, but observing them at the side of my eyes. They are already affected by my small trick, being on edge and nervous. "Oh, I am sorry. It is just too funny." I mock them and the red one is not happy at all. "Humm, that extreme gear is unusual." I say to the little boy.

"Uhum, customized it myself." He answers. Yeah, right, you keep your little act. This kid cannot be their mechanic. He is so stupid that he hands his extreme gear, to me, an opponent. It is clear this kid had an easy life. But the situation is too perfect for me. I take it and inspect the board. Just like before, this is a fine looking extreme gear, with decent mods, but nothing that will be a serious threat.

But then, my eyes go to the hedgehog for a second. Now, he is anything but nothing. But this, is his board. I smile inwardly, as I left a bomb on the board. First lesson little kid, never, EVER, let an opponent touch your tools. You don't know what will they do with it.

Life is hard and, if you can't handle this, then you might as well retire.

I burst into a laughter again. "Well, I never imagined anyone would enter the competition with such a piece of junk!" I say, laughing a little less and return the board. And, he is so shocked about it, with his mouth agape. And the same can be said by the rest of the group. Perfect, now all should be upset in the competition. "Thanks for the good laugh, though." I finish before walking away. I wanted to take a good look at their faces, so I turned around. And it is too perfect.

Sonic is doing everything in his power to stop the pink girl with the hammer and the red echidna and the kid are still in shock. Score. The deck is now on our favor.

_A few races later_

The competition has been tight, but now the only two remaining racers are Jet and Sonic. I wished I was there, but causing the fox to lose the competition due to his emotions is still rather satisfactory. Still, right now, that doesn't matter, because Jet is losing. But I cannot say I am surprised, that hedgehog is a beast! But, I have one final trick up by non existent sleeves: right when the hedgehog is about to win the competition, I press a button and the extreme gear explodes. {Boom} He is sent flying away from the finish line and Jet takes the win with ease.

As expected, Jet is gloating on the victory. "Ah, the dirt suits you." He says, yeah right.

Not gonna lie, I would like Jet to taste a bit of humbleness from time to time, but I am not going to just screw our whole plan to give him a bit of that. So, Jet puts the final emerald with the others and, it happens: Babylon Garden descends from the sky, cutting through the dark clouds on the sky. And, without much else, we make our journey there. Where treasure awaits.

_After a crazy adventure_

OK, that was crazy, but we got the magic carpet. I thought that Jet would complain, but he actually seems fine in accepting that we are descendants of genies. Of course, that is something he would know if he actually bothered to check his father's treasures more carefully. I think I once found a lamp that I thought would release a real genie, but no, sadly it did not happen.

Anyway, we actually say goodbye to them in rather nice terms, which is weird. Well, Jet does: Storm is still angry at the echidna and I don't even want to cross stares with that fox. However, midway to the blimp, I realize I forgot something at the pits. Hey, a giant U.F.O comes from the sky, you know that there will be treasure there, you go there and forget a thing or two. So, I go back, grab my stuff, but hear Sonic and their gang.

"I am sorry Sonic. You lost the competition because of me." The little fox said and I can't help but roll my eyes, thinking that he was still playing his game. I was about to start walking away, when the hedgehog replied him.

"Hey, it was just a competition. Nothing happened. Plus, this new board you created is sick." He reassured. Yeah, go remove all the blame from him, help him to not feel the consequences of his mistakes. No, actually, keep doing it. That way, if he actually decides to become a mechanic, he will be mediocre and not a threat, at all.

"But it was my fault. I was so immersed in making that board that I neglected the board you were using in the competition. Imagine that happened in a life and dead situation! I could never forgive it." He says. Funny, he is harsher with himself than his friends are with him. And a feeling of sickness grows on my stomach.

"Alright, I know you will have that chance in the next competition." He says, and I can't help but clench my fist harder, feeling worse. I, silently, make my way out, as I hear the fox have his spirit lifted by the words of the hedgehog.

_At home, the next day_

I was working on my machines, when Jet comes by and drops his board and Storm's into my workbench. "Hey!" I let go. However, he answered with something I never saw coming.

"I need you to improve our boards." He says, very serious. And I know I can't hide my surprise from my face. I pull it down soon enough.

"OK, I have some plans for modifications for our gears, but it will take a while. The extreme gears might remain nonoperational for a while."

"Fine. We are going to use the spares for now."

"Why?" I can't help but ask. "We could remain low until the gears are ready." I suggest.

"No, I cannot waste any time. If we don't practice enough, that hedgehog and his crew will win again!" Now that is a surprise! I can't remember when was the last time that Jet was this fired up with anyone. But I don't blame him, he is a prodigy, better by far than Storm and me. But he had never met a prodigy like the hedgehog either. It is clear he left an impression. And this, reminded me about the time when the hedgehog reassured the fox.

"...Jet, I..." NO, stop yourself. You know what will happen. But even when I nag myself, I continue. "... Can you guys help me for a bit? It is a lot." I want to kill myself when I finished it. To my surprise, Jet seems speechless, as he could not believe what I just said. Don't blame him, I don't believe it myself. This was awkward, but I would rather him leaving like that than what happened next.

"Buahahahahaha." He started laughing and I want to disappear. "Great joke." He screams between his laughter and I know I am completely red right now, of shame. I start throwing him my tools, quickly scaring him and forcing him to leave the room.

Once he is out, I sigh and bang my head with my workbench. "I don't know what I expected." Yeah, but you knew what you wanted: support. Honestly, just a word of encouragement, even the smallest one would have been fine, even if I did not get any help. And he just goes and laughs at my stupid attempt.

Stupid fox. The only reason why this popped in my head was watching him get support from his friends. I wanna see him on a tough situation or without any friends. Let's see how you hold up then.

_5 days later_

While I work on the extreme gears, I prepare a little something for Sonic and his gang. I built this little camera bot, a little flying round machine with lens on its side. I was done yesterday, but today, he is going around and doing his hero work. Perfect. Once the bot find him, it will imprint to him and follow him around, while avoiding him and anything that might destroy it.

So, I sent the little spy bot. We might have parted ways in good terms, but not for a minute I believe that they won't cause us trouble. We are thieves and they believe themselves heroes, so we are bound to clash sometime. And things go as planned. I had to guide my spy bot via remote control, but now that it is attached to the hedgehog, I no longer need to do so. So, I keep doing my job, until the end of the day.

At night, when I am ready to hit the hay, I check the recordings on the hedgehog. And discover that I have nothing: just a few blurs that I can't understand what is going on, only for it to suddenly go offline like nothing. I feel a twitch suddenly developing on my eye.

_15 days later_

I AM REALLY LOSING MY FREAKING MIND HERE! I have sent several robots after that fool, but he never stays still.

He never stays still! God, someone put him a leash. I sent a final robot, but this time, I am not going to let this one get destroyed for trying to follow that mad man. And, thankfully, this time, he is not moving that fast.

He made a stop on Mystic Ruins, running to the top of a cliff, into a rather big cottage, with a telescope coming from the top. He knocks the door and, to my surprise, Tails the fox goes and open to him. So, here is where he lives.

"Are we ready?" The hedgehog asks.

"In a minute." He replies and gets in again.

And, exactly in a minute, the... the floor on the cliff cuts in half, and slowly each part separated. A silver flying machine with yellow at the tips of its several fins. It has two pod for people, each to sit two people.

And the fox is flying it? Sonic takes the co-pilot sit. And they go to adventure, I suppose. I stop the bot from following them, as I think I found something more interesting and way less stressful. I order my machine to find a way inside the structure.

He found a little trouble on his way, as the fox does have some security, but he seriously needs to improve it. Without further ado, I leave my bot to spy the little fox.

_Days fly by_

I was sure I would find the real mechanic, and I did find him. From the very first day, I found the fox returning home, and what is the first thing he does? Gets into working on robots.

Nothing too crazy, small robots, with animal like functions. Not bad, but back then, I really doubted that the fox built it by himself. All I had to do was wait and find the truth. It was weird though, he is a little kid, but there are no adults in here. But, they can't be gone for long, right?

I don't check the whole tape each night, I do it in fast forward and leave it normal each time I notice something interesting. The fox went to sleep at a very late hour, after hours of working on machines and reading stuff. Strange, but OK, no ones home so, the fox gets to do as he pleases. No discipline at all.

So, at the end of the next day, I repeat the same and get a clear indication of his laid back routine. He got up very late and got cereal and milk for breakfast. Not at a time to eat breakfast. However, he then gets into his machines for a few hours, this time, several ships like the one he used the other day. Apparently, the one from the day I found them was a spaceship.

Wonder when the real builder will appear. He eats lunch, something unhealthy and bathes late. Yeah, he won't be okay soon. He actually goes for a run in the nearby areas, to exercise and test some of his machines.

That sums up his routine, but with things sprinkled around: Sonic comes with frequency to take him on adventures.

Sometimes, the pink hedgehog or a little and big bunny come and visit him, always with food. Healthy food. I honestly thought that he would only eat the tasty parts, but he ate everything, even when they only brought him vegetables. Though, he was wincing and forcing them down the whole time. He clearly prefers other stuff.

10 days in and he finished building a extreme gear that he started from nothing. He takes it for a test and the gear is not able to handle whatever he was trying to achieve with it. And I laugh at him when he bites the dust and the board gets heavily damaged. Obviously, it is out of his capacities.

He is obviously mad at the event, but then, he patiently searches for each piece of the thing, no matter how small it might be or his pain, then returns home, salvages whatever isn't too destroyed, patiently melts whatever is and gets back to work.

This, was more frequent than I expected, his things exploding, but also him repairing them and trying again. I... I can't help but continue observing. He is smart, but he is not a genius. He makes mistakes, sometimes like a novice, but he gets back up and tries again and again.

I... I understand that. I hate when people just say that geniuses have an easier time, because that is a tremendous lie. Yeah, you get a head start, but there is just as much trial and error like everybody else. This kid understand that, so that, when he finished the board and jumped happily as his objective was achieved, I also let go an exclamation of happiness for him, something that I can't believe I did.

After that, the rational side of my mind takes over, convincing myself that he had to get some aid from somewhere.

So, for the next few days, I actually spy on him on real time, until he is out of his house, adventuring or something and I take the opportunity and check his extreme gear exhaustively, trying to find anything that was not there, something that the fox had not put and was put by someone else. I even checked out some of the tapes to make sure... But everything was there: He built that extreme gear without any external help.

I hate to admit it, but the fox is the real deal. And it has being more than 20 days, but there is no adult to supervise him. His friends might visit frequently but, he is mostly self-sufficient.

I turn of the bot because there is this feeling of inferiority sinking in. I have spied a few opponents before: racers, policemen, other thieves. And these guys usually had something terrible with them: vices, and such. People who cheated to get an easier life. They were so easy to hate and it felt like they had it coming. To find dirt and then blackmail them with it.

But this kid, it was different. He is a little kid, with a difficult life, who is still innocent despite how difficult everything is. I... I don't want him as my opponent. I feel dirty, like he doesn't deserve to get his board messed up. Like, I am the bad guy.

But, if for a moment I would loose to him I could never forgive myself. That builds up as a rage, as my pride refuses to acknowledge the child as my superior. It is much more personal than it has ever being to me.

I can only say one thing about this: as a rival, he is much more than I ever bargained for.


	5. Ballroom 2 Tails

I can feel my heart bumping harder against my chest, its noise replicating on my ears, but not for the expected reasons. Right now, I am following Wave the Swallow through one of the secret passages of the manor. It looked like a ventilation shaft: small, forcing us to crawl and dimly lit. She is at the lead, so I just have to follow.

We haven't said a word since we entered, the only sound was the one coming from our movements against the metal square corridors. I gotta admit, if feels crammed here. It had being years since I had to sneak into Eggman's machines or some other organization like this, so I am not used about how different this feels now, with me being so much bigger.

But my main concern is not the fact that I joined a thief on her plans, and the possibility of getting caught or going to prison, or worse. What distracts me the most is my companion. The swallow took the lead, which meant ... I am staring at her ass. There is no other way to put it.

I notice her bump swinging side to side with every movement. I try, I really try to look away, or to focus my eyes on the nothing.

But my eyes would always fall on it again, mesmerized. And... Is it bigger? Muscle don't spontaneously grow but maybe the position? I can't help but think that her dress hugs her body tighter now, somehow. And then were her sexy, long shapely legs and her killer calves and...

For the love of Chaos, stop brain. I shut my eyes in hopes of also stopping my carnal side from talking. For a moment, as I think of anything but how good she looks. Or how incredible she looked with the moonlight. Or her exposed back. Or her nice single braid. Or... God dammit brain! Stop!

Suddenly, I touch something soft. I jump away, as if I touched fire, but my sudden movement made me hit with the low roof. "Shit." I let go, easing my pain.

"You deserve that." Wave said, angry. What did I... Oooooooooh. Fuck. "Keep your hands to yourself, you pervert!" She screams. She is in her right to say that, except... it wasn't my hand that touched her. My face is completely red, but Wave can't turn around and see that.

It is now that I see she has stopped and pulled out her holo pendant. From what I can tell, she is hacking some mechanism, possibly some alarm, so I wait for her.

Before long, she finished and we continue our trek. And it took little time to get to the room.

It looks like a library, with these bookshelves that seemed to be three meters tall, filled with thick books with no space left to spare. But I highly doubt they have being used that much.

With confident steps the lady moves around, with an idea of what to look for. So, she went to a specific shelf and started pulling book after book. I was about to join her in the endeavor, until she managed to pull the right one. She stepped back, and then, the entire books shelf slides to the side, revealing a vault. A classic.

However, the lock is electric, a digital computer board with 10 lines short lines above it and on top of the digital panel, in red was the word secure in bright red.

This guy made a terrible mistake. Wave just pull out her holo pendant, generates a green screen and touches it on a few areas. Before I knew it, the electric lock goes from secure to open, shining in green letters.

She pulled the vault open, revealing small mountains of gold, jewels and other high value stuff. Wave starts searching frantically, and it lands on me... Is she searching for something in particular? I know I said all that about a legacy and preserving it, but these guys are also thieves.

Honestly, with the impressions I got from them during the first competition, Wave looks and acts less like a thief than Jet. At least, that is how I see it. But then, at the end of the competition, with the whole Babylon Garden chaos, Jet was actually willing to relinquish the treasure for losing and Wave sort of nagged at him for almost doing so.

Still, asking isn't a bad idea. "Hey, are we... looking for something in particular?"

"Why do you care?" She doesn't sound too happy about it.

"I just wanna make myself useful. And not be bored." I admit, putting my hands behind my head.

"Then why did you even came to this party?"

"I told you. I was babysitting."

"Yeah. And doing a lousy job. Aren't you going to get in trouble?" That, half sounded like a joke or something.

"If that really worried me, I wouldn't be with a thief." I... Well, I am lying. Of course it concerns me if someone comes here and puts me in prison for breaking in private property. Of course it worries me that the guard that followed and found us making out serves as a witness and I go to prison for being an accomplice.

This finally made her ignore the loot and pay me attention again... That felt weird, even if it was on my mind. "Just to shut you up, I am looking for this." She says, her holo pendant on hand and, on the green screen, there is this egg jewel thingy.

And just like that, Wave returned to metal box. I would like to join her, but an idea just forms on my head. I go to the other side of the room, a shelf. It holds papers and pencils, maybe for studies. But, my guess is right. Here, there are three of the eggs that Wave showed me, and some other gems. "Hey."

"What now?!" She says, and then her eyes expand a lot. It seemed this is the thing she was looking for. "How?!" She lets out, while running to me.

"Well, it was here with other studying tools, so I think these were..."

"Paperweight." She finished. She... sounded low and offended.

"Yeah. This possibly means they are not in the vaults."

"But rather placed as simple ornaments." I noticed her hand and see that she is tightening her fist. She is obviously upset. And I am not sure that I get why.

"But hey, that means it will be easier to take them." I start but Wave is ignoring me, already going back to the ducts. Except, she stops right in front of a new one and steps to the side.

"You go at the front." She demands and it is obvious why. I comply, knowing that I am red on my face. I put my hand in and lower my head, when I feel something hitting my butt, with the sound of a slap and I, again, hit my head on the metal roof.

"Chaos dammit." I let go. "What was that for?!" I can't help but snap, glaring at the swallow.

"To be even." She replies. I hold her stare for a while. Her smile never goes down, so I just walk in. Should have expected something like this.

I go to the vents again, but stops mid-way and check my back, just to make sure I avoid any sneak attacks.

She doesn't try again, but is giving me her back. I just enter and take the lead. And by listening, I know she is following me.

"And about what you said, you are dead wrong. I know where every vault is and all these secret passages. If the rest of the eggs are dispersed as paperweight, then this is going to be a crazy goose chase."

...Whoa, that is actually a good point. But there is something that is bothering me. "But what about the security cameras?" I asks and she releases a puff of air from her mouth.

"A little hack here and there and you can fake the images that the cameras emit. You can use previous recordings to do so. But it has to be fast or else, they might notice something is wrong." Wave says. I expected that much.

"Is it possible for you to get the live footage of the cameras?" I ask.

Wave is silent for a while. "Now that you mention it." Her tone is nicer than before.

In a matter of minutes, we travel through the vents maze, until reaching to the main computer room. The vents lead behind a rather big CPU, which I push slightly, just to make sure we are at the right room.

Here, there are around 10 workers, but at least 50 screens, all pointing at every possible room on the manor and various angles.

It is enough. I see Wave touch her screen frantically, introducing code and other after other. But, soon enough, she manages to connect with their systems. Now, her green screen shows every corner of the structure, permitting us to see the whole place.

Damn. She is still great. Like, I never expected her to be any less, but to see her hack into their systems, without a direct contact with their machines, is still praiseworthy.

It takes us a while to identify the rooms where the eggs are hidden: A statue on the garden has two on each hand on the first floor; one on the observatory, around the giant telescope on the fourth floor; and one on the rec room, on the top floor.

"Ok, now what?" I ask. I wanna be on the same page as her.

"We will return to the party. It is the easiest way to get to the garden." She says.

"Won't there be guards on the garden?" I ask again.

"What happened to not being concerned and all that?" She says, with a confident smile. I can't help but be reminded of Sonic's cocky smile. That 'I do first and worry never' that represents him perfectly.

Not that much new happened while we traveled back to, except, to reach a particular vent, we need to pass through a few hallways with guards. We sneaked around, believing that we knew where the guards were.

At one point, as we wait on a corner, Wave stuck her head out, trying to get an idea of what is coming, only to quickly return it, as a flash of light comes from the other side of the pathway.

"Shit. Shit." She lets go, as she runs from where we came from. I follow her, trying to not get nervous, but watching Wave lose her nerve is... contagious.

We got to the opposite side of the passage, again with a corner at our backs. Wave quickly looks out. "It seems we are..."

(Crash!) Crap. I looks at my side. In my efforts of being stuck to the wall, I pushed some vase on a table. Even in the dark, I know her face has lost all color.

"What was that?" We heard and, it seems it made Wave react, looking around and going through a nearby door. I follow her.

"Something, something." She murmurs, with her holo-pendant on hand and the prints of the mansion. "Dammit." She says louder, lowering her pendant. Oh no.

This room is a small living room, with two sofas and a small table. Wave goes to the windows and open it slightly. "OK, let's do this."

"What?" I try to whisper but it is a little loud to be one. And I see her starting to leave through the window. "Wait. Are you nuts? There are workers outside. They will catch us."

"And what do you suggest, genius?" She asks. I think a little, but I only have one idea.

"Trust me." I say and wrap an arm around her waist.

"H-hey. Kissing me is not going to work." For once in the entire evening, I don't turn red or lose balance for her comments. Instead, I go to my tail and take away the band. Now, my twin tails separate and start spinning. In the matter of seconds, we get some altitude.

"...About time." I hear her say and, honestly, I thought I would lose concentration. Thank goodness I didn't. But... for how long has she known?

We get to the inner roof, still flying. I am really thankful that my flight is mostly silent, because the guards finally entered the room. They turn up the lights, and give the room a quick search.

They notice the wind moving the curtains. That was thanks to Wave and her first escape plan. They close the windows and left the room. I am thankful it is short, because my tails can't hold this for much longer.

I look away, expecting an earful, but instead, we get an awkward silence. I go to the exit, making sure the guards are gone. OK, now that is solved, I blurt. "Since when have you known?"

"...A while." She says, smug about it, but there was a strange pause at the beginning. Was she... distracted? I let go a held air. Even now, I feel a step behind her.

"That's not going to be a problem, will it?" I ask.

"You tell me." She replies.

"What do you mean?" She lets her arms fall to her sides, like she is disappointed or something. Not sure why.

"...This is not the place to talk about that." She admits, with her composure back and I agree.

And, with that, we manage to get back to the vents without any hindrance. This one is going back to the bathroom. Again, I take the lead, about to enter, when she stops me.

"Wait." The bird girl calls me out. And I turn my head. I just blink, stunned. She has removed her mask from her face. And I look at her again. God, years have being generous with her.

At my best estimate, she is supposed to be reaching her mid to late twenties, but she looks younger, on her early twenties. Her fur... Er feathers are neat and shine with life. She has no make up, but for the life of me, I would never imagine her needing it. Her whole face just seems to complement itself. The blue of her eyes, with the yellow of her beak and the purple seems to mix perfectly into an aphrodisiac beauty.

And, somehow, it is until now that I notice that she is in front of me and extending her hand to my face. I pull my head away. Wave then stops, for a moment, a flash of hurt appearing on her face. But, as fast as it came, it left.

"Move it." She put her mask back on her face and took the lead, suddenly not caring about my presence behind her. And I feel like crap.

I only flinched because I was taken by surprise, but it is probable she took it the wrong way.

She got out faster and I recognize this pacing: She is trying to escape from me. And I am not sure if I shouldn't let her. Some people think I understand women, but I don't. But I know when I have hurt one and know that keeping some distance is better.

We return to the bathroom and she is sneaking out, trying to escape the men's bathroom without been seen by anyone.

I follow her. She is aware of my presence, as she turns around, expecting me and snatches my wrist. I should be feeling ashamed or something like that, but now all I feel is tension and unease. And not the good one.

So, we return to the dance floor for another piece, this one has more life to it. The particular movement is to lock arms with your partner, spin in a circle and the turn around and grab a new one. So, we do it, I give another spin with a female mouse and then... Wave got lost from my sight.

I weight the possibility of going after her, as another woman dances with me. I upset her just now. I promised myself to be nice with her. But was it better to accompany her, or to leave her alone? I don't think she would mind.

The piece finished, so I went back. Do I look for her or not? I weighted my options when I suddenly found her with my eye. And she is not alone. God dammit.

She crashed with the worst person possible.


	6. Ballroom 2 Wave

We are silent so far, advancing through the secret passages. They are vent like, all made of metal, with little lighting, but still enough to see. Having my holo pendant on my hand is also helping me. With each step, we make quite a bit of noise, but it shouldn't become an issue. Right now, the screen had a radar system, sending an expanding circle every few seconds, to detect any systems like heat sensors or motion sensors. I eventually found one, a laser sensor, tooooo old school. It will be a piece of cake.

I stop and work on the system, hacking it. But then, I feel something... touching my ass. The second that happened, he jumped away, hitting his head on the low roof. I honestly should be worried for all the noise he produced on that moment, but my anger for letting him touch me and the pleasure of seeing him get hurt dominates my thoughts.

"Shit." He says.

"You deserve that." I say angry. Seriously, you would think, for how meek and awkward he present himself, that he wouldn't do something like this. But here he was. "Keep your hands to yourself you pervert." I snap at him. And it seems it worked, because for the time I spent hacking the system and more, he does as told. I also take some time to hack the cameras on the next room. This will make the cameras send recordings instead of live. That should avoid us a lot of trouble, but there are still out there, so we can't be at ease.

We got to the next room the library. It is strangely spotless, but that must be thanks to his servants and not because the owner is an avid reader.

I go to the books and start pulling them. For now, I ignore foxy over there. Like, I know he previously touched my butt, but it was different. It was not enjoyable. But soon, I pull the book that is the right one. And the entire books shelf slides to the side, revealing a vault.

Ha! This guy is really making everything easy. It is an entire electric lock, with bottoms for a password, and above them, the words 'closed' in red. But it literally takes me ten seconds to use my pendant and crack it open. The absurd vault opened, the door, bigger than the fox, opened, leading to a, in comparison, small room, filled to the brim with gold and stuff. I really wished I had some bag for loot, but I must remember my priorities. Find the eggs and leave. I look again at the mountains of gold, literally of my height. This... might take a while.

So, I got my hands into work, searching every bit of the metal box to find the treasure. Just as I expected, the Babylon eggs are hard to find on this mountain.

"Hey, are we... looking for something in particular?" Well, no shit Sherlock. Why do you think I am not just taking every bit of gold and fill my bra or something? Still, I control my reaction a bit.

"Why do you care?" I say, and he should understand that I don't want to play around.

"I just wanna make myself useful. And not be bored." He says. I don't even turn around again to answer.

"Then why did you even came to this party?" Was my next question.

"I told you. I was babysitting."

"Yeah. And doing a lousy job. Aren't you going to get in trouble?" I quipped.

"If that really worried me, I wouldn't be with a thief." I am not sure why, but this answer irked me. There was no particular pride or superiority on his tone, but I still found it condescending and insulting.

"Just to shut you up, I am looking for this." I got tired of our banter and turn around. I pull the holo pendant and showed him the same model egg I showed Jet and Storm. And with that, back to searching. Except, that was leading nowhere. It was possible that not all the vaults had eggs, but it was still frustrating and the night has not helped me ease up.

"Hey." Oh, for the love of God.

"What now!?" I am at the end of my patience. However, he offered me something good. He had found an egg. "How?!" I, unconsciously, jump back up and sprinted toward him. How did he found one?

"Well, it was here with other studying tools, so I think these were..." He starts and I know where he is going to.

"Paperweight." I say. It is all I say and think. He pulled out two more eggs.

"Yeah. This possibly means they are not in the vaults." He says again.

"But rather placed as simple ornaments." I am sure I should have noticed that we are completing the other sentences, but it goes over my head. The only thing that occupies my mind is fury.

How could this imbecile do this?! These eggs are invaluable! They are part of an ancient civilization light years ahead of the now. How can you put that as paperweight?! They should be in a museum, with their own vaults! They are not worthless!

"But hey, that means it will be easier to take them." He says and snaps my bubble. He wants to reassure me. It doesn't upset me. I then feel a pain on my hand.

I clenched my fist so hard my nails are starting to sink in my skin. Still, I tell him nothing, just going back to the vents. Except, once I am close to it, I remember what happened.

"You go at the front." I say, stepping to the side. He complies, and starts getting in. I then notice my opportunity. I lift my hand and slap his ass. He jumps in the snug passage and hits his head yet again.

"Chaos dammit." He lets go, clenching his head. And I smile at the whole thing. "What was that for?!" He demands.

"To be even." I have a smirk on my face that refuses to go down. God, this was great. He stares me down, probably hoping for me to say something else, maybe even apologize. I don't change my expression.

He just gives up and takes the lead, though he checks his back one last time. I followed soon, but the thing kept going on my mind. Slapping his butt... it felt nice. I then remember our embrace, his warmth, remembering that carnal hunger that blinded us.

Dammit, I just touched his glutes! Not anything else! I follow him, trying to forget about it.

To help that, I say. "And about what you said, you are dead wrong. I know where every vault is and all these secret passages. If the rest of the eggs are dispersed as paperweight, then this is going to be a crazy goose chase."

He stopped for a moment and I had the decency to not touch his butt again. Stop with the butt, Wave. He seems to be processing it.

"But what about the security cameras?" He says. He is concerned of that until now? He is not that smart then.

"A little hack here and there and you can fake the images that the cameras emit. You can use previous recordings to do so. But it has to be fast or else, they might notice something is wrong." I explain. It doesn't feel like a chore this time.

"Is it possible for you to get the live footage of the cameras?" Now, that is an interesting idea. I give it some thought and I know our plan of attack.

"Now that you mention it." I say.

It took us a few minutes, but we get inside the computer room. The fox pushes a giant CPU to confirm this.

We are close enough. I start tinkering with my pendant and soon enough, I have every room, seen through every camera in the entire building.

I smile, satisfied. It takes a while, but I found the eggs. A statue on the garden has two on each hand on the first floor; one on the observatory, around the giant telescope on the fourth floor; and one on the rec room, on the top floor.

"Ok, now what?" He says.

"We will return to the party. It is the easiest way to get to the garden." That is the plan I offer him.

"Won't there be guards on the garden?" He says, sounding worried.

"What happened to not being concerned and all that?" I tease with a confident smile. He still looks uneasy, but it diminished.

So, we return. We needed to pass through a particular corner. I thought it was free, but a guard passes by and turned directly to me. I step away, but I am not sure he did not see me.

"Shit. Shit." I let go and turn around. I pull the map again, looking for alternative routes. We reach the other side of the pathway and I see behind the corner to my left. There is a soldier blocking our way, but it looks like it should turn away soon enough.

"It seems we are..." I start, and it seems I threw the salt at that moment.

(Crash!) Fuck. I look at him with disbelief. Not even fury, just pure surprise. He dropped a vase at his side, the noise betraying our position.

"What was that?" One of the soldier say and I panic further. I notice that there is a door in front of us, so I go there. It isn't until we are inside that I pull out the pendant.

"Something, something." I continue moving, until reaching a dead end. A room consisting of two sofas and a small table.

"Dammit." I let go again. There are no secret passages here and no other room connecting it. Not unless you mention the one from where we came from. As far as I can tell, we only have a way out. I go to the window and opened it.

"OK, let's do this." I tell him, starting to pull out my leg.

"What?" It seems he didn't see this coming. "Wait. Are you nuts? There are workers outside. They will catch us." He says.

"And what do you suggest, genius?" I say, because as far as I can tell, there is no way out. Miles thinks it for a second.

"Trust me." He says and wraps an arm around my waist.

"H-hey. Kissing me is not going to work." Honestly, I should be complaining about the fact that he was going to kiss me, but I really wouldn't mind. And why am I thinking about kissing? He just put his arm around my waist. That doesn't mean he was going to kiss me.

However, with his free hand, he pulls something from his tail. A flexible band. But before I wonder about that, came the fact that his tail split in two and they start spinning like the blades of a copter, with enough strength to lift us. No. Fucking. Way.

Shorty! All this time, he has being Shorty! And... And I kissed him. Passionately. And his voice went from a squeaky girl voice to a straight, manly one, not too deep nor too high voice. And... I really want to see him under the mask. Is he wondering the same? And... last time... well, things went wrong. I deflate a little when I remember. Is he like, waiting for the appropriate moment to catch me? Is he trying to catch me? Why else would he come so close? The whole thing about preserving our stuff... Was all that a trick?

But none of these thoughts become words. Instead, I say. "...About time." He actually shook violently. For a second, I thought he would drop me or he would fall. I want to kick myself. This was the worst time to say that.

We managed to get high enough, just before the soldiers came in. They lit up the room, and tried to find the source of the noise. They don't even bother to look up. For those who don't know, it is scientifically proven that people don't usually look up when looking for stuff or burglars. So, that saved us.

The second they left, we start descending. I can feel in his respiration that he is tired, but not breathless. And we land nicely and safely. I look at him from the side of my eye.

If you see his old recordings, you could see he could lift Sonic or one of his friends, but after a few seconds, the fox would open his mouth, desperate for air and come down to the floor.

It seems Tails has more endurance. Suddenly, I am curious. How is his body type? Is he buff? Fat? Skinny fat? He is taller than me, and the tux looked nice against his frame, but I really wish he was wearing less clothing, to get a better idea of his body type.

"Since when have you known?" I blink. Shit, I got lost on my thoughts. And for how long? No, concentrate. Answer his question.

"A while." It is not a lie, my mind had already made the association. I just ignored it.

"That's not going to be a problem, will it?" He asks.

And, I shoot him back. "You tell me."

"What do you mean?"... I let my arms fall, just hanging, as well as my mouth. Is he this forgetful or dense?

"...This is not the place to talk about that." I change the topic and walk.

Soon enough, we found the corridor that should take us to the library. I want to confront him about our last meeting. He should be upset. I would be if the roles were reversed. But what if he actually forgot it, or just let go of it? Would bringing it up reopen old wounds? I think it is better to postpone it. And the moment I convince myself to do so, the thought of seeing him without his masks because strong and a little overwhelming.

And I tell myself to stop it. It is just Shorty, the little fox who physically looks like a man... What? Stop it! It is not like he will look like a male model or anything, with a strong jaw, sensual lips, small strong eyes... Shut up brain! It is not like I can just ask him to take his mask off. Right? I... I am actually considering it. What could I do, so he lowers his guard down enough to see his face.

I think I have a plan... A very bad one admittedly. "Wait." I order, when he was about to enter the passage. Tails looks at me, curious. His face turn into surprise as I grab my mask and pull it away from my face.

And... he freezes again. Like, he doesn't react at all. Greaaaaat. Wonder if he likes it or if he just didn't see it coming. Still, I got an idea. I extend my hand, trying to touch his mask and take it away.

He backs away, harshly... Am I made of fire to you?! I balled my fist and put back my mask.

"Move it." I order him. Why did I thought this would go well?! Why did I had to humiliate myself?! I just had to try to get him to take away his mask.

The return to the party is silent and I no longer care if he is behind me or tries to do anything funny. That last action hurt me. I don't know what was I expecting.

Even if we entertain the idea that he took his mask off too. Then what? Would I feel the need to kiss him? Yeah, even without the mask, I sort of, maybe, want to make mouth to mouth contact again.

But then what? I am a thief and he is a vigilante. He will always try to catch me. And I just served this on a silver tray because I showed my face. Prior to that point, I could have pretended that I was a fan that took the opportunity and personified the swallow. Like, to get a date or something. Considering that it was a party full of rich or famous people, it is plausible. If he is trying to stop me, it will be very easy.

But now, I made it all the more complicated. Either way, I leave the bathroom and notice that the new piece of music has a lot of movement and the dancers are constantly changing partners. I join the fox one last time, only to separate from him, further and further away.

I look behind, but it seems he is not following me. Finally! Now, I can forget about this night, about my messes and just concentrate on my job.

I turn to the front and... There is a girl with pink fur in front of me. And, under my mask, my eyes shrink to its tiniest.

_"I am babysitting. Older siblings. I trust they won't take down the house."_ Tails' voice rang on my head. Shit. Why didn't I make the connection earlier?! Shorty came with his gang too!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it is much shorter than the first ones. I feel like from now on, the chapters will be more numerous and shorter on word count.


End file.
